NEW YORK – OCT. 5, 2020 – Epiq, a global leader in legal services, released its September 2020 bankruptcy filing statistics from its AACER business. Continuing the trend from the previous month, commercial Chapter 11 filings are up 78% over September 2019 with 747 new filings, which is up from 420 last year. In the first three quarters of 2020, Chapter 11 commercial filings are up 33% over the same period last year with a total of 5,529 filings.

For the first three quarters, Chapter 11 Commercial filings are up 33% versus the same period last year

NEW YORK – OCT. 5, 2020 – Epiq, a global leader in legal services, released its September 2020 bankruptcy filing statistics from its AACER business. Continuing the trend from the previous month, commercial Chapter 11 filings are up 78% over September 2019 with 747 new filings, which is up from 420 last year. In the first three quarters of 2020, Chapter 11 commercial filings are up 33% over the same period last year with a total of 5,529 filings.

“After a slower August, we see an increase Chapter 11 filings in September both month over month and year over year,” said Deirdre O’Connor, managing director of corporate restructuring at Epiq. “These commercial filings are primarily small businesses that do not have access to capital or stimulus. Unfortunately, those bankruptcies will continue to rise in the current economic environment. For the largest companies, opportunistic investors are providing much needed capital to supplement the lending capabilities of more constrained traditional banks. However, the most over-leveraged distressed companies could succumb to a formal restructuring due to lack of credit support and overall sector decline.”

“Non-commercial bankruptcy filing activity continues to decline since the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic,” said Chris Kruse, senior vice president of Epiq AACER.  “Regulatory programs have effectively kicked the can down the street by injecting liquidity into the market, delaying new bankruptcy filings.”

Chapter 13 non-commercial filings are down 43% in 2020, with 118,306 filings, which is down from 206,933 filings from the same period in 2019. Chapter 7 non-commercial filings are down 23% in September 2020 with 27,027 new filings, which is down from 34,957 filings for the same period in 2019.

About Epiq AACER
Epiq AACER provides a bankruptcy information services platform built with superior data, technology and expertise to create insights and mitigate risks for businesses impacted by bankruptcies. Learn more at www.aacer.com.

About Epiq
Epiq, a global leader in the legal services industry, takes on large-scale, increasingly complex tasks for corporate counsel, law firms, and business professionals with efficiency, clarity, and confidence. Clients rely on Epiq to streamline the administration of business operations, class action and mass tort, court reporting, eDiscovery, regulatory, compliance, restructuring, and bankruptcy matters. Epiq subject-matter experts and technologies create efficiency through expertise and deliver confidence to high-performing clients around the world. Learn more at https://www.epiqglobal.com.

Press Contact
Catherine Ostheimer
Epiq
+1 646 282 1800
costheimer@epiqglobal.com