 | | Featured Premium Content | | | | | Bloomberg Law: Judge Removes Lawyers Helping Franchise Group With Bankruptcy
The powerful law firm helping Franchise Group Inc. navigate bankruptcy was ordered to be removed from the case after federal officials and creditors complained to a judge about the firm’s ties to beleaguered investment adviser B. Riley Financial Inc. and controversial executive Brian Kahn, according to a Bloomberg Law report. Willkie Farr & Gallagher has represented Kahn and B. Riley on various matters over the years, which critics alleged was a conflict of interest since both were involved in the soured 2023 buyout that’s at the heart of Franchise Group’s bankruptcy. 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 | | | | | Joann to Close 500 of Its 800 Stores After Second Bankruptcy Filing
Fabric and crafting store Joann is set to close more than half of its locations across the U.S., USA Today reported. The embattled retailer first filed for bankruptcy in March 2024 after securing around $132 million in new financing to put towards its $1 billion debt. That time around, the company stayed afloat by choosing to go private. However, a rash of store closures followed before the company again filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in January to "facilitate a sale process to maximize the value of its business." READ MORE | | Cybereason CEO Sues Mnuchin, SoftBank Fund Over Funding Plan
The chief executive officer of Cybereason Inc. sued two investors — former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the SoftBank Vision Fund — accusing them of putting the company at risk of bankruptcy by rejecting multiple plans for a much-needed capital infusion of as much as $150 million, Bloomberg News reported. Using their voting rights as board members, the two investors “systematically rejected financing proposals, solely to preserve their control and financial advantages,” CEO Eric Gan said in a complaint filed Monday in Delaware Chancery Court. Gan said that the cybersecurity-software maker will be forced into chapter 11 bankruptcy if immediate financing isn’t secured. READ MORE | | Warren, Waters Warn Bank Regulators Against Aiding ‘Unlawful’ DOGE Actions
Key Democrats plan to call on the heads of the Federal Reserve, the Federal Insurance Deposit Corporation and others to safeguard the sensitive data they hold after the Trump administration threw one of the nation’s banking regulators into turmoil, the Wall Street Journal reported. In a draft letter, which was viewed by the Wall Street Journal, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) said that they thought that recent access by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency into the internal systems of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Treasury Department were in violation of the Constitution and other laws. (Subscription required.) READ MORE
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March 3 | | | | |  | | Daily Roundup | | | | | Health Care Provider Bankruptcy May Stick Rural Georgia with State Prisoners’ Medical Bills
Macon State Prison has become one of the bloodiest correctional facilities in Georgia, and no one knows that better than the men and woman who work for Macon County EMS, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. As the violence at the prison just south of Oglethorpe has intensified, so, too, have the calls for ambulance service. And because of those calls, the county now finds itself dealing with an unexpected and costly burden: more than $100,000 in unpaid bills. Macon County EMS is one of the hundreds of medical and EMS providers in Georgia with claims in a Texas bankruptcy court seeking more than $75 million from Wellpath Holdings, Inc., the company that backed out of its contract to provide health care for the Department of Corrections. READ MORE | | Pennsylvania Trucking Company Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Turk Transportation filed for chapter 11 protection on Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Freight Waves reported. The Carnegie, Pa.-based company, owned by Mehmet Uzun, offers interstate general freight services, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website. According to Turk Transportation’s four-page voluntary petition, the company has up to $1 million in assets and liabilities of between $1 million and $10 million. The petition states the company has up to 49 creditors. READ MORE | | Bill Gates-Backed Breast Milk Startup Files for Bankruptcy
Biomilq was a moonshot startup, attracting big name backers such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates through his Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the Triangle (N.C.) Business Journal. The Research Triangle Park company’s mission was to reproduce breast milk in a lab. But five years into that journey, Biomilq has filed for bankruptcy, listing nearly $913,000 in liabilities on just under $403,000 in assets. Rebecca Redwine, the attorney representing the company, said Biomilq was “forced to file” due to ongoing litigation. READ MORE | | FTX User Accidentally Deposited 2,000 Tokens Year After Collapse
FTX customers who deposited digital assets before the cryptocurrency exchange imploded in 2022 have waited years to get their money back. That includes one user in Prague who made a costly blunder: he accidentally deposited tens of thousands of dollars worth of Solana tokens on FTX a year after it went bankrupt, Bloomberg News reported. Lukas Bartusek said that he inadvertently transferred 2,000 tokens to an old FTX account in October 2023, nearly a year after Sam Bankman-Fried’s exchange went bankrupt, according to a Monday filing in Delaware bankruptcy court. After realizing his mistake, Bartusek said he was informed he’d need a court order to allow a withdrawal from the account. READ MORE | | U.S. Consumer Inflation Increases at Fastest Pace in Nearly 1-1/2 Years in January
U.S. consumer prices increased by the most in nearly 1-1/2 years in January, with Americans facing higher costs for a range of goods and services, reinforcing the Federal Reserve's message that it was in no rush to resume cutting interest rates amid growing uncertainty over the economy, Reuters reported. The hotter-than-expected inflation reported by the Labor Department on Wednesday was likely partly due to businesses raising prices at the start of the year, evident in a record surge in the cost of prescription medication and an increase in motor vehicle insurance. READ MORE | | U.S. Regulator Restores Company Leverage to Skip Shareholder Votes
The top U.S. securities regulator revised guidance on Wednesday to give companies more leverage to skip shareholder resolutions submitted for annual meetings, undoing a change made in 2021 and seen as a blow to activists pressing companies on environmental, social or governance issues, Reuters reported. Such resolutions have become the centerpiece of many corporate meetings in recent years as investors took new interest in matters like climate change or workforce diversity. But the trend has prompted pushback from stock issuers and some Republican politicians who see them as distractions. READ MORE | | | | |
