 | | Featured Premium Content | | | | | [ABI Conference Materials]: Litigation Roundup
This panel from ABI's New York City Bankruptcy Conference on June 17 explored (1) how bankruptcy courts address gerrymandering in the classification context, and how such concerns may arise in connection with liability-management transactions; (2) how debtors may attempt to effect "backdoor" estate releases through sale transactions whereby the buyer of the assets acquires estate claims and causes of action, and whether such attempts invoke concerns of a sub rosa plan; and (3) how the standard of adequate protection should be interpreted when a debtor is using cash collateral to maintain operations as a going concern where the alternative is a potentially value-destructive chapter 7. READ MORE | | ABI@NCBJ
ABI is honored to be hosting a reception at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, at NCBJ in Chicago, as well as educational sessions on Friday, Sept. 19. To register for the conference, please click here. At NCBJ, ABI also will be handing out the 2025 Judge William L. Norton Jr. Judicial Excellence Award. Nominations for that award will be accepted until July 15, 2025, and can be submitted at arin.berkson@thomsonreuters.com. | | |  | | Editor's Picks | | | | | Fed Holds Rates Steady, Stays on Track for 2 Cuts in 2025
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady Wednesday for the fourth meeting in a row and kept a projection for two rate cuts this year, Yahoo! Finance reported. The central bank voted unanimously to maintain its benchmark interest rate in the range of 4.25%-4.5%. The Fed has now held rates at that level for six months since last cutting in December. Fed officials still see two rate cuts this year, the same amount projected in March, amid uncertainty of how the Trump administration’s policies, from tariffs to immigration to tax policy, will impact the economy. What the central bank did change, however, was its outlook on inflation and economic growth amid those uncertainties: Fed officials now see inflation staying higher this year than previously estimated and economic growth going lower than prior predictions. READ MORE | | Purdue Pharma’s $7B Opioid Settlement Could Advance Soon After States Back It
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma’s latest plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids could soon move forward after every U.S. state involved agreed to it, the Associated Press reported. A judge said that he planned to issue a ruling today on a plan for local governments and individual victims to vote on it. Government entities, emergency room doctors, insurers, families of children born into withdrawal from the powerful prescription painkiller, individual victims and their families and others would have until Sept. 30 to vote on whether to accept the deal, which calls for members of the Sackler family who own the company to pay up to $7 billion over 15 years. READ MORE | | Senate Passes Cryptocurrency Bill, Handing Industry a Victory
The Senate passed legislation to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins, putting the cryptocurrency industry, which had long been viewed with suspicion by lawmakers in Washington, on the brink of a major policy breakthrough, the New York Times reported. Bipartisan approval of the bill, known as the GENIUS Act, followed an aggressive lobbying campaign aimed at transforming the cryptocurrency industry’s image from scandal-plagued experiment to legitimate financial sector. Senate passage came over the fierce objections of many Democrats, who warned that the measure lacked strict-enough regulations or oversight to prevent abuses, including anti-corruption rules that would bar President Trump and his family from continuing to profit from cryptocurrency. The bill still must be passed by the House and signed by the president. (Subscription required to view article.) READ MORE
MORE NEWS BELOW | | | | |  | | Upcoming Events | | | | | ABI Northeast Bankruptcy Conference & Consumer ForumOmni Mt. Washington Resort
July 14-16 | Bretton Woods, NH.. | | ABI Southwest Bankruptcy Conference The Ritz-Carlton Bacara
August 25-27 | Santa Barbara, Calif. | | | | | | |  | | Daily Roundup | | | | | Analysis: The Biggest Companies Across America Are Cutting Their Workforces
Corporate America is convinced: Fewer employees means faster growth, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. U.S. public companies have reduced their white-collar workforces by a collective 3.5% over the past three years, according to employment data-provider Live Data Technologies. Over the past decade, one in five companies in the S&P 500 have shrunk. The cuts go beyond typical cost-trimming and speak to a broader shift in philosophy. Adding talent, once a sign of surging sales and confidence in the future, now means leaders must be doing something wrong. READ MORE | | 23andMe Bankruptcy Judge Rejects Texas Effort to Halt Data Sale
The state of Texas lost its bid for a temporary restraining order to halt the proposed sale of 23andMe’s genetic data bank, failing to convince a judge that the transaction would cause irreparable, immediate harm, Bloomberg Law reported. Judge Brian C. Walsh of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri said during a Wednesday hearing that the state’s arguments are based on the possibility of harm that may not be imminent, as the sale hasn’t yet been approved by the court. 23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki recently won an auction for the firm’s assets, along with TTAM Research Institute, for $305 million. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals was named the backup bidder in the event that Wojcicki and TTAM fail to close the sale. READ MORE | | Archdiocese of New Orleans Accused of Securities Fraud by Investors
The Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans is planning to default on a nearly $1 million interest payment on more than $41 million in bonds it sold in 2017, leading lawyers for the people who purchased the church’s debt to allege in open court that the archdiocese had engaged in “the definition of securities fraud,” WWL reported. An attorney for the archdiocese counters that the allegation is “an extreme stretch.” Whatever the case, the dispute pitting the U.S.’s second-oldest Catholic diocese against people who purchased debts the New Orleans church took on to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina could complicate efforts to settle more than 600 clergy abuse claims. READ MORE | | Wrongfully Convicted Ohioan Is Due $45 Million, but Township Says It Can’t Afford It
Ohioan Dean Gillispie, who spent two decades in prison for crimes he did not commit, wants $45 million from the township and police department that sent him away — even though the township says it could be forced into bankruptcy, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. Gillispie won the judgment in 2022 in a federal lawsuit he lodged against Miami Township, Ohio, and its former detective, Matthew Scott Moore. Since the jury decision in 2022, the township has been accruing interest on the unpaid settlement. The township appealed, and in May 2025, a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Gillispie and declined to lower the amount. READ MORE | | Elon Musk Warns U.S. Faces ‘De Facto’ Bankruptcy if $37 Trillion Debt Not Tackled; Peter Schiff Says, ‘We Are Already Bankrupt’
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is once again raising concerns regarding the U.S. fiscal outlook, warning of dire consequences as interest on federal debt balloons to unsustainable levels, Benzinga reported. In a post this week on X, Musk warned that the U.S. was teetering on the edge of “de facto bankruptcy” as federal debt surpasses $37 trillion, and interest payments on this debt now account for 25% of all tax revenue. He added that “if this continues,” then all tax revenues will eventually go toward servicing the national debt, with “nothing left for anything else.” The post highlights the gravity of the situation, stating that of the $5 trillion in total U.S. Government revenue, interest payments now account for $1.2 trillion, while the government continues to spend $7 trillion annually, resulting in persistent and ever-growing deficits. READ MORE | | Federal Court Clears Path for Legal Challenges to Coal-Hauling in Monongahela National Forest
A federal judge in Delaware ruled in favor of two motions filed by conservation groups, allowing key legal and administrative actions to move forward to protect portions of the Monongahela National Forest from mining activities by South Fork Coal Company, despite the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, Appalachian Voices reported. South Fork Coal Co. filed for bankruptcy in February 2025. The ruling lifts the bankruptcy-related pause on two separate efforts by conservation advocates to stop illegal coal hauling operations by the company through the Monongahela National Forest. READ MORE | | Former President of Pasadena Company Pleads Guilty to Tax Evasion and Bankruptcy Fraud
John Philip Tharp, former president of Bendco, a Pasadena, Texas-based pipe and tubing company, has pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion and bankruptcy fraud, MyTexasDaily reported. Tharp admitted to embezzling funds and altering financial records during the company's bankruptcy proceedings. Tharp, who led Bendco, a company specializing in bending pipes and tubes for oil and structural applications, confessed to diverting customer payments and issuing fraudulent checks to fictitious vendors. He also acknowledged failing to file a 2018 tax return and evading $126,430 owed to the IRS, according to court documents. READ MORE | | Chipmaker Wolfspeed Nears Bankruptcy Deal with Lenders, Including Apollo
Struggling chipmaker Wolfspeed Inc. will be taken over by creditors, including Apollo Global Management Inc., under a proposal that would put it into bankruptcy just long enough to slash billions of dollars in debt, Bloomberg reported. The company reportedly will soon announce a deal with lenders for a prepackaged bankruptcy. In the weeks after that restructuring support agreement is signed, Wolfspeed would ask creditors to vote on the deal and then file a chapter 11 case. (Subscription required to view article.) READ MORE | | Gaucho Group Emerges from Bankruptcy with New Strategy
Gaucho Group Holdings announced its emergence from chapter 11 on June 16, having resolved litigation with 3i Parties and secured a settlement, TipRanks reported. The company is now poised to leverage Argentina’s improving economic conditions, including reduced inflation and renewed mortgage financing, to advance its business strategy and capitalize on new investment opportunities. Gaucho Group Holdings Inc. is a company focused on luxury real estate, fine wines, and leather goods, primarily operating in Argentina. READ MORE | | | | |
