U.S. Bankruptcy Court Appoints Jelena McWilliams as Chapter 11 Trustee for Synapse Financial Technologies, Inc.

On May 24, 2024, the United States Trustee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California appointed Cravath partner Jelena McWilliams to serve as the chapter 11 trustee in the bankruptcy case of Synapse Financial Technologies, Inc. (“Synapse”).

In a hearing regarding the appointment, Judge Martin Barash of the Central District of California noted that the immediate goal of the trustee is to reconcile ledgers and return money to depositors. He said: “The trustee can immediately start speaking to parties in interest and developing a plan to fund the continued preservation of Synapse’s systems and data, and to continue the process of sharing information and hopefully reaching some agreement with the participating banks that allows funds to be returned to end users, to the rightful owners of those funds, as soon as humanly possible.” The court order stipulates, “[a]s soon as possible, the chapter 11 trustee is directed to meet and confer with counsel for the various constituents in business with the Debtor, including the financial technology platforms, the partner financial institutions and the Debtor's secured lenders.” That process is underway.

Notice of the appointment is available here and the order directing appointment of chapter 11 trustee is available here.

Parties in interest can address inquiries to the trustee at the following email address: SynapseTrustee@cravath.com.

The status report filed by the trustee on June 6 and updated on June 7, 2024, is available here.

The status report filed by the trustee on June 13 is available here.

The status report filed by the trustee on June 20 is available here.

The status report filed by the trustee on July 2 is available here, and a supplement to the report filed on July 3 is available here.

The status report filed by the trustee on July 16 is available here.

The status report filed by the trustee on July 31 is available here.

The status report filed by the trustee on August 14 is available here.

The status report filed by the trustee on August 29 is available here. 

The status report filed by the trustee on September 12 is available here.

The status report filed by the trustee on September 26 is available here.

The status report filed by the trustee on October 22 is available here.

The status report filed by the trustee on November 12 is available here.