 | | Featured Premium Content | | | | | Debtwire: Twin Peaks Restaurants Franchisee DMD Florida Restaurant Group Files for Chapter 11
Twin Peaks Restaurants franchisee DMD Development 2 LLC filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection seeking access to cash collateral of prepetition lender Florida Restaurant Franchise Group IX LP, Debtwire reported. Debtors DMD Development, DMD Restaurant Group C LLC and DMD Restaurant Group D LLC filed their bankruptcy petitions on Monday (6 January), reporting $500,001 to $1million of assets against $10 million to $50 million of liabilities. The company’s largest unsecured claim is held by Florida Restaurant Franchise Group, according to the petition. READ MORE | | | | |  | | Editor's Picks | | | | | Giuliani Keeps His Property in Settlement of Defamation Case
Rudolph W. Giuliani has reached a settlement with two Georgia election workers who he repeatedly, and falsely, claimed had helped to steal the 2020 election, the New York Times reported. The former mayor of New York was at risk of losing millions of dollars worth of personal mementos, valuables and real estate that he had gathered over his decades practicing law and then in public office. He had previously been ordered to pay down some $11 million of a $148 million judgment he owed the election workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, who he claimed had manipulated ballots. READ MORE | | Analysis: The Fall of India’s Hot Startup Is Wiping Out U.S. Debtholders
The most valuable startup in India’s history, a tech company with Silicon Valley cachet, a charismatic founder and visions of dominating the online-education business seemed sure to be one of the post-pandemic’s next big things. More importantly, Think & Learn Pvt — more widely known as Byju’s — was willing to pay handsomely to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars in the U.S. just as the world’s central banks were holding interest rates at next to nothing, according to a Bloomberg analysis. So when JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley went to line up buyers for Byju’s debt in late 2021, orders poured in. There was so much interest, in fact, that the size of the deal was more than doubled to $1.2 billion, giving Byju’s a pile of cash to plow into a global expansion and put it on the road to becoming India’s next hot stock. What followed instead was a corporate collapse, setting off an unusual court clash that’s slowly working toward its end — and may leave investors recouping only a small fraction of what they’re owed. READ MORE | | PBGC Awards $869 Million to Multiemployer Pension Plan Facing Insolvency
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has awarded a multiemployer plan facing insolvency approximately $868.8 million in special financial assistance, Pensions & Investments reported. The Legacy Plan of the UNITE HERE Retirement Fund, which is based in White Plains, N.Y., and covers 91,744 retirement plan participants in the hospitality industry, was projected to run out of money in 2030, according to a Jan. 15 announcement from the PBGC. READ MORE
MORE NEWS BELOW | | |  | | Upcoming Events | | | | | ABI Consumer Practice Extravaganza | Part 2Seven Mile Beach Resort & Spa
January 21-24 | Online Conference | | ABI International Caribbean Insolvency SymposiumThe Westin Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach Resort & Spa
January 23-25 | Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands | | | | |  | | Daily Roundup | | | | | Judge Addresses Privacy Concerns in Bankruptcy Case of Deion Sanders' Son Shilo
A federal judge in Denver this week addressed an ongoing issue the bankruptcy case of Colorado football player Shilo Sanders over how much privacy should Sanders be given related to his business dealings, USA Today reported. Judge Michael E. Romero urged the parties involved to make progress on their disputes about this matter but also reminded Sanders’ attorney that Sanders’ overall financial situation is now a “public record.” READ MORE | | CFPB Takes Action to Address Illegal Debt Collection Practices by the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took action to resolve its case against the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts for unlawfully filing defective debt collection lawsuits to collect on private student loan debt, according to a CFPB press release. The CFPB and the Trusts filed a proposed stipulated judgment that, if entered by the court, would require the Trusts to pay $2.25 million in redress to student borrowers who were harmed. READ MORE | | American Express to Pay $230 Million to Settle Deceptive Marketing, Fraud Probe
American Express has agreed to pay $230 million to settle a federal probe into deceptive marketing practices and civil fraud allegations, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced yesterday, The Hill reported. Under the settlement released by the DOJ, American Express has agreed to pay a more than $108 million civil penalty to resolve allegations the company violated the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA). READ MORE | | FTC, Colorado Sue Property Firm Greystar, Alleging Renters Deceived by Hidden Fees
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the State of Colorado have filed a complaint against Greystar, a multi-family rental property manager, alleging that it deceived consumers about rental costs with hidden fees, the FTC said yesterday, according to Reuters. "The FTC is suing Greystar for deceptively advertising low monthly rents only to later saddle tenants with hundreds of dollars of hidden junk fees,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in the statement. Greystar denied the allegations. READ MORE | | CFPB Fines Cash App-parent Block over Insufficient Fraud Protection
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday ordered payments firm Block to pay a penalty, citing fraud and weak security protocols on its mobile payment service Cash App, Reuters reported. The regulator said that Block, which is led by Twitter Co-founder Jack Dorsey, directed Cash App users who experienced fraud-related losses to contact their banks for transaction reversals, which Block subsequently denied. READ MORE | | After the Fires, Bidding Wars and Cutthroat Demand Take Over L.A.’s Rental Market
The Los Angeles wildfires are pitting neighbors against each other in a cutthroat search for rental housing, the Wall Street Journal reported. The fires have killed at least 25 people and flattened or damaged thousands of homes. Tens of thousands of displaced people are staying with relatives or sleeping in hotels and emergency shelters. Employers are providing housing for some workers. These accommodations are mostly temporary. Now, fire refugees are entering the contest to find housing for the months—or even years—it will take for their homes and neighborhoods to be rebuilt. (Subscription required.) READ MORE | | ABI/St. John's Duberstein Competition Has Urgent Need for Brief-Graders!
The Duberstein National Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition, now in its 33rd year and widely recognized as one of the nation’s preeminent moot court competitions, will be held in New York March 1-3, 2025. Fifty-three teams from law schools across the country will compete through written briefings and oral argument. Please find the fact pattern by clicking here. VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED BY JANUARY 21 TO SERVE AS BRIEF-GRADERS (sign up here). In addition, ABI and St John's are also looking for volunteers by Feb. 8 to judge the preliminary rounds (sign up here) of the competition. Click here for more information and to volunteer. | | | | |
