§2178 Disclosure by professional persons seeking approval of compensation under section 2176 or 2177 of this title

Summary

List of Material Interested Parties — the list the Oversight Board must make of people and groups with a stake in the case. Oversight Board — the board that runs the oversight process. Before asking to be paid for work in these cases, any lawyer, accountant, appraiser, auctioneer, agent, or other professional must file a sworn disclosure that follows Rule 2014(a) and says how they are connected to anyone on the List of Material Interested Parties. They must quickly update that disclosure if they learn new relevant facts. If they fail to file or update, or the court finds their disclosure not made in good faith, they must say so in later required filings. The United States trustee will review those disclosures, may comment on them, and can object to payment requests that don’t meet these rules. The Oversight Board must create the List of Material Interested Parties no later than 30 days after January 20, 2022, subject to court approval and a chance for the United States trustee or any party in interest to be heard. The list must include the debtor, creditors, other parties in interest, attorneys and accountants for those parties, the United States trustee and staff, and the Oversight Board’s members, Executive Director, and employees. The court can exclude people whose claims are below a dollar threshold it sets. The court may refuse to allow payment or expense reimbursement if a professional fails to file or files an inadequate disclosure, is not a disinterested person (has a conflict under bankruptcy law), or represents or holds an adverse interest in the case.