November 242003

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November 24, 2003

Congress Clears FCRA Legislation For Bush's Signature

The House and Senate completed action on bipartisan legislation to
update the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) with stronger federal
protections against identity theft, CongressDaily reported. The
White House has said President Bush will sign the bill, which also would
permanently extend expiring FCRA provisions that pre-empt many state
consumer protection laws. House and Senate conferees signed a final
agreement on the legislation on Friday, and the House approved the
conference report Friday night on a 379-49 vote. The Senate approved the
conference report on Saturday by unanimous consent, according to a
spokesman for the Senate Banking Committee.

The bill would give consumers the right to see their credit scores, and
would enable them to obtain free copies of their credit reports every
year. It also would enable consumers to place 'fraud alerts' in their
credit reports, and require credit card companies to take certain
precautions before granting credit to consumers who have those alerts on
file. The bill also would prevent companies from sharing certain
sensitive medical information, reported the newswire.

Senate Puts Asbestos Bill Off Until Next Year

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said on Saturday he would
not force a vote on asbestos litigation reform this year and instead
would continue talks with Democrats and other interested parties to
forge a compromise, Reuters reported. 'It is clear we still need a
little more time for discussion,' Frist said. 'There will, however, be a
limit to these discussions because we must act.' Frist said he would now
schedule Senate action on asbestos legislation by the end of March.

Democrats have said a recent proposal by Frist for a $114-billion fund
to compensate people sickened by asbestos was inadequate. The fund would
be supported by asbestos companies and insurers, who agreed to the
amount. Labor unions have said that at least $153.8 billion would be
needed to pay the claims of people with asbestos-related diseases.
Republicans have been trying to jump-start stalled legislation to end
asbestos lawsuits and establish a fund, supported by asbestos companies
and insurers, to pay victims' claims. Frist said it was important to act
quickly on legislation to prevent further economic disruption, but that
he wanted to give interested parties time to work out a compromise,
reported the newswire.

Negotiations Linger On Class Action Bill

Four Senate Democrats who last month joined most of their Democratic
colleagues to vote against proceeding with floor consideration of the
bipartisan class action reform bill are continuing to negotiate with
Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) in hopes of producing a compromise
bill they could support, CongressDaily reported. The bill fell
one vote short of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster by
Democratic opponents of the measure. But Democratic Sens. Mary Landrieu
(D-La.), Christopher Dodd (D-Cpnn.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Jeff
Bingaman (D-N.M.) told Frist in a letter last week that they would be
'very close' to supporting class action legislation this year if Frist
works with them to address several 'readily solvable' concerns. A source
familiar with the negotiations said Frist's office sent proposed
compromise language to the four Democrats last week. The Democrats
responded on Friday with proposed language, reported the newswire.

UAL's Exit From Bankruptcy May Be Delayed

United Airlines' bankruptcy attorney Friday said while the company is
still intent on exiting chapter 11 protection by the first half of 2004,
several obstacles may delay that process, FOX News reported. United, the
No. 2 U.S. carrier, and its parent UAL Corp. filed the largest
bankruptcy proceeding in aviation history almost a year ago. While at
one point executives at the world's second-largest airline had indicated
the bankruptcy could end this year, earlier than planned, the potential
timetable has continued to shift as the complex restructuring
progresses. UAL attorney James Sprayregen told a bankruptcy court judge
Friday that unresolved issues with regional service provider Atlantic
Coast Airlines Holdings Inc. were among critical remaining factors, the
online news source reported. That and other issues, including complex
aircraft lease negotiations, 'could offset the timing' of the planned
first-half 2004 bankruptcy exit, Sprayregen said, FOX reported. As
United has outlined in the past, municipal bond litigation, various
claims against the airline and underfunded pension liabilities also need
to be resolved, Sprayregen said.

Enron Granted More Time to Address Plan

Enron Corp. has another two weeks to address objections to its plan to
emerge from one of the most complex and costly bankruptcies in history,
the Associated Press reported. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez in
New York was to consider preliminary approval of the Houston-based
company's proposed reorganization plan Monday, after postponing a
hearing this week. On Friday, a second delay was granted at the request
of Enron, its main creditors' committee and Harrison Goldin, the
court-appointed examiner overseeing creditors of the company's defunct
trading unit, 'to allow the parties to continue their efforts to resolve
certain outstanding issues,' according to a court filing, the newswire
reported. The hearing was rescheduled for Dec. 9.

Texas Petrochemicals Gets OK Of Breakup Fee For Equity
Deal

The bankruptcy court overseeing the Texas Petrochemicals L.P. bankruptcy
case approved the company's emergency request to grant a $1.25 million
breakup fee and to reimburse up to $500,000 in expenses for a potential
investor. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Letitia Clark in Houston approved
the request on Tuesday. As reported, Texas Petrochemicals said it had a
preliminary commitment for a $40 million equity investment to help fund
its emergence from bankruptcy protection. Under the commitment, the
investor's name was to be kept confidential.

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U.S. Investigating Weirton Steel's Business Dealings

U.S. prosecutors are investigating alleged misappropriations of
company property at Weirton Steel Corp., Chief Executive D. Leonard Wise
confirmed on Friday.

According to an Associated Press article, a routine internal audit
revealed a problem, and the steelmaker then turned that information over
to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Wheeling, Wise said. He declined to
elaborate on the probe but said, 'Weirton Steel reaffirms its position
that any improper behavior won't be tolerated.'

Delta Chief to Retire; Pilot Deal Elusive

Delta Air Lines Inc. on Monday said Chairman and CEO Leo Mullin would
retire, an unexpected move that leaves each of the top three U.S.
airlines with new leaders since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Reuters
reported. Mullin, a former banker who helped steer Delta through a post
Sept. 11 cash crunch, will retire as CEO on Jan. 1 and will step down as
chairman on May 1, the airline said in a statement. Jack Smith, former
head of General Motors Corp., will succeed Mullin as chairman, and
Gerald Grinstein, former head of Burlington Northern Corp., will succeed
him as CEO.

Delta is trying to renegotiate its pilots union contract to bring down
costs, but as yet has not been able to strike a deal. Pilots, the only
unionized workers at Delta, have been upset over executive compensation.
Delta did not give a reason for Mullin's departure, only saying that it
was part of discussions that he initiated earlier in the year about
retiring, reported the newswire.

StarBand Emerges From Bankruptcy

StarBand Communications Inc. said that it emerged from chapter 11
bankruptcy protection and appointed a new board of directors. and
secured additional financing, the Wall Street Journal reported. The
satellite broadband company also secured new financing. StarBand filed
for chapter 11 protection in May 2002 following a dispute with Echostar
Communications Inc., which had marketed StarBand's services to its
satellite-television subscribers. Echostar wrote off its $100 million
investment in StarBand.

Parts of NRG Reorganization Plan Approved

A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved several parts of NRG Energy Inc.'s
reorganization plan, Reuters reported. Judge Prudence Carter Beatty of
the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York,
approved NRG's plan to name David Crane as its CEO. Among other
approvals, Beatty also backed the settlement of an electricity supply
contract dispute between utility Connecticut Light & Power and NRG,
the energy trading unit of U.S. power company Xcel Energy Inc. Earlier
this week, NRG creditors voted in favor of the plan of reorganization.
NRG filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May after running up
$9.2 billion in debt during a decade of aggressive expansion into
unregulated power generation and trading, reported the newswire.

AEP Units File Enron, BofA lawsuits

Houston Pipe Line Co. and AEP Energy Services Gas Holding Co.,
affiliates of American Electric Power said they filed a lawsuit on
Friday against Enron Corp. and Bank of America Corp. regarding certain
natural gas storage assets, Reuters reported. AEP said the suit --
involving the 'Bammel' storage assets in Texas -- was filed in the Enron
bankruptcy proceeding pending in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern
District of New York. 'Our filing supports our position that we have the
right to continue to operate these assets for the full period for which
we contracted and paid. To try to avoid any uncertainty about our rights
we are asking the bankruptcy court to confirm those rights,' Michael
Miller, AEP's deputy general counsel, said in a statement, reported the
newswire.

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