 | | Featured Premium Content | | | | ABI Journal: Student Loan Discharge: Where Are We Headed?
The discharge and forgiveness of student loan debt has long been a contentious topic, both inside and outside of bankruptcy circles. With escalating student loan debt levels a focus of national attention, critics have called for a change to the legal landscape governing the dischargeability of student loan debt in bankruptcy. Courts considering the issue are bound to apply decades-old tests. Nonetheless, there are indications that change might be on the horizon, according to a recent ABI Journal article, even as a new administration takes office. READ MORE | | | | SPONSORED CONTENTDefault Rate May Not Tell the Whole Story The expected increase in loan defaults in 2024 never materialized. But while corporate credit health appears strong on the surface, there are signs of potential weakness underneath. This article examines current trends to help you stay informed about silent loan defaults, private credit default trends, impacts on maturities, and more. READ MORE | | |  | | Editor's Picks | | | | CCRC Operator Files for Chapter 11 Protection
Lutheran Life Communities has filed for chapter 11 protection to try to ensure uninterrupted resident services at its continuing care retirement communities and to reorganize the company, according to court filings, McKnights Senior Living reported. A resolution adopted by a majority of the nonprofit organization’s board of directors on Feb. 3 was included in the filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The resolution indicated the company “has been investigating strategic alternatives” to its financial problems to best serve its affiliates and avoid the appointment of a receiver. READ MORE | | Trump Administration Orders CFPB to Stop Work, Closes Building
The Trump administration has ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop nearly all its work, effectively shutting down an agency that was created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal, the Associated Press reported. Russell Vought, the newly installed director of the Office of Management and Budget, directed the CFPB, in a Saturday night email confirmed by The Associated Press, to stop work on proposed rules, to suspend the effective dates on any rules that were finalized but not yet effective, and to stop investigative work and not begin any new investigations. READ MORE | | Coinbase Must Face Customer Lawsuit in New York
Coinbase must face a lawsuit by customers who accused the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange of illegally selling securities without registering as a broker-dealer, a federal judge ruled on Friday, Reuters reported. U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan rejected Coinbase's argument it did not qualify as a "statutory seller" under federal securities law because it never passed title to 79 tokens that the customers traded. The judge cited the accusation that "customers on Coinbase transact solely with Coinbase itself," necessitating a conclusion that Coinbase was a seller. READ MORE MORE NEWS BELOW | | |  | | Upcoming Events | | | | Alexander L. Paskay Memorial Bankruptcy Seminar Tampa Marriott Water Street February 27-28 | Tampa, Fla. | | ABI Distressed Real Estate SymposiumPendry Newport Beach March 26-28 | Newport Beach, Calif. | | | |  | | Daily Roundup | | | | Trump Unveils Plans for 25% Tariffs on Steel, Aluminum Imports
President Donald Trump said he plans to impose 25% tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum, broadening his trade salvos and threatening ties with some of America’s top trading partners, Bloomberg News reported. Trump, speaking to reporters Sunday on Air Force One, said the tariffs would apply to imports of the metals from all countries. Asked whether Mexico and Canada would be included, he said the levies would cover “everybody.” He didn’t specify when the duties would take effect. READ MORE | | Trump Takes Aim at Private Equity’s Favorite Tax Perk Again
President Donald Trump is once again saying he wants to end a tax perk used by private equity fund managers, a policy feat that politicians have tried and failed to achieve for more than a decade, Bloomberg News reported. Under threat: the tax code’s controversial treatment of the profits of private equity, venture capital and hedge fund managers. In the current regime, dealmakers pay a lower rate on their share of profits because these returns are taxed as capital gains instead of normal employment income. In a meeting with Republican lawmakers on Thursday, Trump said closing the carried-interest loophole is a priority. Such a shift could reduce the deficit by $13 billion through 2034, according to a December estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. READ MORE | | BofA to Buy $9 billion Residential Mortgage Loan from Canada's TD
Bank of America has agreed to buy a $9 billion portfolio of residential mortgage loans from Toronto-Dominion Bank, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday, Reuters reported. The Canadian lender's CEO Raymond Chun had said at a banking conference in January that the bank would look at exiting some loan portfolios. In October last year, TD said it would focus on restructuring its balance sheet in fiscal 2025 after it pleaded guilty to violating a U.S. law aimed at preventing money laundering and agreed to pay a combined $3 billion in penalties. READ MORE | | Judge to Review Trump's Buyout Offer to Government Workers
A U.S. judge will consider on Monday the fate of President Donald Trump's buyout offer to two million federal workers as Trump presses ahead with an unprecedented effort to dismantle government agencies and downsize the federal workforce, Reuters reported. U.S. District Judge George O'Toole in Boston will hear arguments in a lawsuit brought by federal workers' unions which claim the Trump administration's "deferred resignation" offer to government civilian employees is illegal because the U.S. Congress has not approved funding for the scheme. READ MORE | | | |