 | | Featured Premium Content | | | | | BankruptcyData: 4Q24 Business Development Company (BDC) Report – Part IV
Part 4 of BankruptcyData's ongoing series released each week during BDC quarterly reporting — spotlighting the latest business development opportunities amid market distress. This week's BDC filings review highlights key updates from MidCap Financial Investment Corp. (MFIC), Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (CGBD), and Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL), revealing growing financial strain in their portfolio companies. Congruex Group LLC completed a PIK interest conversion, while Ivanti Software, Inc. launched a liability management exercise (LME). READ MORE (Free registration required.) | | | | |  | | Editor's Picks | | | | | Mitel Networks Files for Bankruptcy in U.S. After Debt Workouts
Canada’s Mitel Networks has filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. as the telecommunications firm continued to struggle after carrying out debt maneuvers about two years ago, Bloomberg News reported. The firm filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District Court of Texas, court documents show. It listed assets and liabilities of $1 billion to $10 billion each in its petition. READ MORE | | EPA, Citibank Face Legal Challenge to $20 Billion Green-Bank Funding Freeze
A clean-energy nonprofit asked a federal court to compel the Environmental Protection Agency and Citibank to unlock some $20 billion in green-bank funding that has been frozen under pressure from the Trump administration and pushed grant recipients into financial distress, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Friday’s lawsuit by Climate United, one of the national nonprofits selected to disburse billions of dollars in green-bank funding, said the EPA has no legal basis for denying disbursement requests from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, part of the giant climate law signed by former President Joe Biden in 2022. Without the grant funds, Climate United will soon run out of cash to pay its operating expenses or meet its commitments under the loans and awards it has already approved, according to the complaint, filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C. Climate United said Citibank, the financial agent charged with distributing GGRF funds, has wrongfully refused to make disbursements. READ MORE | | Rite Aid Is in Talks With Creditors to Bolster Its Liquidity
Rite Aid Corp. is in talks with providers of its asset-backed-loan to fully access the facility and implement its turnaround plan, Bloomberg News reported. The drug-store chain needs cash to replenish inventory and is discussing with the lenders the removal of blockers that are preventing Rite Aid from tapping resources available under that facility. READ MORE
MORE NEWS BELOW | | |  | | Upcoming Events | | | | | Behind the Bench: Preparations and Suggestions to Solve the Pro Se PuzzleABI/NCBJ Webinar
April 1 | | ABI International Latin America Symposium Charleston Santa Teresa Cartagena
May 12-14 | Cartagena, Colombia | | | | |  | | Daily Roundup | | | | | Trump Order Denies Student Loan Relief to Nonprofit Workers Engaged in ‘Improper’ Activity
President Donald Trump is ordering changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program that would disqualify workers of nonprofit groups deemed to have engaged in “improper” activities, the Associated Press reported. An executive order signed on Friday directs the Education Department to modify the program to deny loan relief to some borrowers. It would exclude loan forgiveness to people whose work is tied to illegal immigration, foreign terrorist groups or other illegal activity. Congress created the program in 2007 to encourage careers in the government or nonprofit groups. It offers to cancel any remaining student debt after borrowers make 10 years of payments while working in public service. It’s open to government workers, teachers, police, religious pastors and certain nonprofit employees, among others. READ MORE | | Crypto Bill HB230 Passes in Utah Senate, Bitcoin Reserve Provision Abandoned
The Utah Senate has passed a significant piece of legislation, known as HB230, aimed at integrating crypto into the state's legal framework, CoinMarketCap.com reported. This bill, titled the "Blockchain and Digital Innovation Amendments," was approved with a vote of 19-7-3 and is now awaiting the signature of Governor Spencer Cox to become law. A key aspect of the original bill draft, which would have established Utah as the first state in the U.S. to create a Bitcoin reserve, was removed before final approval. READ MORE | | U.S. Regulators Settle With Robinhood for $29.75 Million Over Compliance Issues
Robinhood has agreed to a settlement of $29.75 million with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) following investigations into its supervision and compliance practices, CoinMarketCap.com reported. The settlement includes a civil fine of $26 million and $3.75 million in restitution to customers. FINRA's findings revealed that Robinhood failed to adequately respond to multiple “red flags” indicating potential misconduct. This included violations related to Anti-Money Laundering, along with supervisory and disclosure shortcomings. READ MORE | | SEC to Move Away from Requiring Crypto Firms to Register as Trading Systems, Chief Says
The acting chief of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday he has directed staff to look at ways to abandon a plan that would have widened the definition of alternative trading systems to include some cryptocurrency firms, Reuters reported. The SEC in 2022 proposed requiring some crypto firms to register as alternative trading systems, drawing criticism from the sector in the face of potentially heightened oversight and additional rules. Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda told an audience of bankers he has instructed staff to look at ways to abandon that portion of the plan, which has yet to be finalized. READ MORE | | U.S. Small Business Confidence Extends Decline in February
U.S. small-business confidence dropped for a third straight month in February, wiping away much of the gains notched in the aftermath of President Donald Trump's election victory in November, amid mounting concerns over the administration's trade policy, Reuters reported. The National Federation of Independent Business said on Tuesday its Small Business Optimism Index fell 2.1 points to 100.7 last month. It mirrored declines in both consumer and business confidence as well as the stock market, which have all erased the so-called Trump bump. The NFIB's Uncertainty Index rose 4 points to 104, the second-highest reading on record. READ MORE | | | | |
