II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2282 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to modify venue requirements relating 

to bankruptcy proceedings. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 8, 2018 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 28, United States Code, to modify venue 

requirements relating to bankruptcy proceedings. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bankruptcy Venue Re5 form Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) bankruptcy law provides a number of venue 

9 options for filing bankruptcy under chapter 11 of 

10 title 11, United States Code, including place of inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Jan 08, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2282.IS S2282

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1 corporation, principal place of business and assets, 

2 or where an affiliate has filed a case under chapter 

3 11; 

4 (2) the wide range of permissible bankruptcy 

5 venue options has led to an increase in companies 

6 filing for bankruptcy outside of their home States, 

7 or the district in which their principal place of busi8 ness or principal assets are located, a practice 

9 known as forum shopping, and has resulted in a 

10 concentration of bankruptcy cases in a few districts; 

11 (3) bankruptcy forum shopping prevents small 

12 businesses, employees, retirees, creditors, and other 

13 important stakeholders from fully participating in 

14 bankruptcy cases that will have tremendous impacts 

15 on their lives, communities, and local economies, and 

16 deprives district courts of the United States of the 

17 opportunity to contribute to the development of 

18 bankruptcy law in their jurisdictions; and 

19 (4) reducing forum shopping and manipulation 

20 in the bankruptcy system will strengthen the integ21 rity, build public confidence, and ensure fairness in 

22 the bankruptcy system. 

23 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to prevent 

24 the practice of forum shopping in cases filed under chapter 

25 11 of title 11, United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 3. VENUE OF CASES UNDER TITLE 11. 

2 Title 28, United States Code, is amended— 

3 (1) by striking section 1408 and inserting the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘§ 1408. Venue of cases under title 11 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘prin7 cipal place of business’ means, with respect to a person 

8 or entity that is subject to the reporting requirements of 

9 section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 

10 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m, 78o(d)), the address of the prin11 cipal executive office of the person or entity as stated in 

12 the last annual report filed under that Act prior to the 

13 commencement of a case under title 11 by the person or 

14 entity, unless another address is shown to be the principal 

15 place of business by clear and convincing evidence. 

16 ‘‘(b) VENUE.—Except as provided in section 1410, 

17 a case under title 11 may be commenced only in the dis18 trict court for the district— 

19 ‘‘(1) in which the domicile, residence, or prin20 cipal assets in the United States of an individual 

21 who is the subject of the case have been located for 

22 the 180 days immediately preceding such commence23 ment, or for a longer portion of the 180-day period 

24 than the domicile, residence, or principal assets in 

25 the United States of the individual were located in 

26 any other district; 


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1 ‘‘(2) in which the principal assets or principal 

2 place of business in the United States of a person 

3 or entity, other than an individual, that is the sub4 ject of the case have been located for the 180 days 

5 immediately preceding the commencement, or for a 

6 longer portion of the 180-day period than the prin7 cipal place of business or principal assets in the 

8 United States of the person or entity were located 

9 in any other district; or 

10 ‘‘(3) in which there is already pending a case 

11 under title 11 concerning an affiliate that directly or 

12 indirectly owns, controls, is the general partner, or 

13 holds 50 percent or more of the outstanding voting 

14 securities, of the person or entity that is the subject 

15 of the later filed case if the pending case was prop16 erly filed in that district under this section. 

17 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of para19 graphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b), no effect shall 

20 be given to a change in the ownership or control of 

21 a person or entity that is the subject of the case or 

22 its affiliate, or to a transfer of the principal assets 

23 or principal place of business of a person or entity 

24 that is the subject of the case or its affiliate to an25 other district, that takes place— 


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1 ‘‘(A) within 1 year before the date on 

2 which the case is commenced; or 

3 ‘‘(B) for the purpose of establishing venue. 

4 ‘‘(2) PRINCIPAL ASSETS.—For the purposes of 

5 subsection (b)(2) and paragraph (1) of this sub6 section, principal assets do not include cash or cash 

7 equivalents. 

8 ‘‘(d) BURDEN.—The person or entity that com9 mences a case under title 11 shall bear the burden of es10 tablishing by clear and convincing evidence that venue is 

11 proper under this section.’’; and 

12 (2) by striking section 1412 and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘§ 1412. Change of venue 

15 ‘‘Notwithstanding that a case or proceeding under 

16 title 11 is filed in the correct division or district, a district 

17 court may nevertheless transfer a case or proceeding 

18 under title 11 to a district court for another district or 

19 division, in the interest of justice or for the convenience 

20 of the parties. If a case or proceeding under title 11 is 

21 filed in the wrong division or district, the district court 

22 shall transfer, dismiss the case or proceeding, or, if it be 

23 in the interest of justice, transfer the case or proceeding 

24 under title 11 to any district or division in which it could 

25 have been brought. The court shall enter an order on any 


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1 objection to or request to change venue of a case or pro2 ceeding under title 11 not later than 14 days after the 

3 filing of such objection or request.’’. 

Æ 


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