11 U.S.C. § 1104 : US Code - Section 1104: Appointment of trustee or examiner

Search 11 U.S.C. § 1104 : US Code - Section 1104: Appointment of trustee or examiner

(a) At any time after the commencement of the case but before
confirmation of a plan, on request of a party in interest or the
United States trustee, and after notice and a hearing, the court
shall order the appointment of a trustee -
(1) for cause, including fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, or
gross mismanagement of the affairs of the debtor by current
management, either before or after the commencement of the case,
or similar cause, but not including the number of holders of
securities of the debtor or the amount of assets or liabilities
of the debtor;
(2) if such appointment is in the interests of creditors, any
equity security holders, and other interests of the estate,
without regard to the number of holders of securities of the
debtor or the amount of assets or liabilities of the debtor; or
(3) if grounds exist to convert or dismiss the case under
section 1112, but the court determines that the appointment of a
trustee or an examiner is in the best interests of creditors and
the estate.
(b)(1) Except as provided in section 1163 of this title, on the
request of a party in interest made not later than 30 days after
the court orders the appointment of a trustee under subsection (a),
the United States trustee shall convene a meeting of creditors for
the purpose of electing one disinterested person to serve as
trustee in the case. The election of a trustee shall be conducted
in the manner provided in subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section
702 of this title.
(2)(A) If an eligible, disinterested trustee is elected at a
meeting of creditors under paragraph (1), the United States trustee
shall file a report certifying that election.
(B) Upon the filing of a report under subparagraph (A) -
(i) the trustee elected under paragraph (1) shall be considered
to have been selected and appointed for purposes of this section;
and
(ii) the service of any trustee appointed under subsection (d)
shall terminate.
(C) The court shall resolve any dispute arising out of an
election described in subparagraph (A).
(c) If the court does not order the appointment of a trustee
under this section, then at any time before the confirmation of a
plan, on request of a party in interest or the United States
trustee, and after notice and a hearing, the court shall order the
appointment of an examiner to conduct such an investigation of the
debtor as is appropriate, including an investigation of any
allegations of fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, misconduct,
mismanagement, or irregularity in the management of the affairs of
the debtor of or by current or former management of the debtor, if -

(1) such appointment is in the interests of creditors, any
equity security holders, and other interests of the estate; or
(2) the debtor's fixed, liquidated, unsecured debts, other than
debts for goods, services, or taxes, or owing to an insider,
exceed $5,000,000.
(d) If the court orders the appointment of a trustee or an
examiner, if a trustee or an examiner dies or resigns during the
case or is removed under section 324 of this title, or if a trustee
fails to qualify under section 322 of this title, then the United
States trustee, after consultation with parties in interest, shall
appoint, subject to the court's approval, one disinterested person
other than the United States trustee to serve as trustee or
examiner, as the case may be, in the case.
(e) The United States trustee shall move for the appointment of a
trustee under subsection (a) if there are reasonable grounds to
suspect that current members of the governing body of the debtor,
the debtor's chief executive or chief financial officer, or members
of the governing body who selected the debtor's chief executive or
chief financial officer, participated in actual fraud, dishonesty,
or criminal conduct in the management of the debtor or the debtor's
public financial reporting.