Media Coverage
Source: The Deal
Media Coverage
07.03.13
Blaine Green, the San Francisco-based head of Pillsbury’s Indian law practice, commented on the complex restructuring of Foxwoods Resort Casino’s $2.3 billion debt. Owned by Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, the Foxwoods casino deal is being hailed as the most complex restructuring involving a Native American tribe in history by industry insiders.
The tribe initially considered filing an unprecedented chapter 11 bankruptcy, which raised questions about whether Native American tribes are eligible to file for chapter 11. Green argued that the case can be made that corporations owned by tribes could file.
The uncertainty of eligibility for filing works in the tribes’ favor, he said. “The mere threat, possibility, and potential that a tribe could file for bankruptcy could be more effective and useful than an actual bankruptcy filing.”
Green explained that if one tribe filed, only to have its petition denied, the threat of bankruptcy would be unavailable to other tribes in the future. Furthermore, if a tribe filed successfully, the bankruptcy process could call tribes' legal protections into question, potentially stripping them of rights that protect their sovereignty, he added.