src='/AM/Images/headlines/headline.gif' />
November 16, 2004
Chamber Leads Push to Attach Class Action Bill to Omnibus
As House and Senate negotiators try to reach a deal on an FY05
omnibus spending package, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is leading a
lobbying campaign to attach a bipartisan Senate bill overhauling the
rules for class action lawsuits, CongressDaily reported.
“The business community is united in favor of this,” Stanton
Anderson, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and
chairman of the Class Action Fairness Coalition, said Monday. Anderson
said the coalition plans to meet today and will urge representatives
from its roughly 150 member companies and trade groups to visit
lawmakers during the lame duck session. A spokeswoman for Senate
Majority Leader Bill Frist (R–Tenn.) said the issue of whether to
attach the class action bill to an omnibus measure is a “moot
point” unless Democratic leaders agree to it, the newswire
reported.
U.S. Pension Agency 2004 Deficit More Than Doubled
The U.S. agency that insures the pensions of 44 million workers said
its deficit more than doubled to $23.3 billion this year on the
expectation additional company retirement plans will fail, Bloomberg
News reported. The U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.’s deficit
rose by $12.1 billion in fiscal 2004, adding to a record $11.2 billion
the previous year, the agency said. The shortfall includes $11.8 billion
in pension plans the agency said it expects to have to take over. The
agency didn’t name the companies, though the head of a pension
trade group said they likely include United Airlines and US Airways
Group Inc.
Adelphia Creditor Ups the Ante
Last week, the unsecured-creditors committee in the bankruptcy
announced the winning bidder must pay at least $17.5 billion, according
to a term sheet released by the committee, the Wall Street
Journal reported. The deal also must include other features, such
as limiting creditors’ exposure to the fine the government is
expected to demand from Adelphia, the term sheet states. Otherwise, the
committee said, Adelphia should abandon the sales process and plan to
emerge from bankruptcy protection as a stand-alone company, the online
newspaper reported.
USG Creditors Ask for Court OK to File Reorganization Plan
Lawyers for people sickened by asbestos have asked a bankruptcy court
to end USG Corp.’s right to come up with a reorganization on their
own, claiming the company is stalling to avoid paying claims, Reuters
reported. A lawyer for future asbestos claimants, and representatives
for other asbestos victims, proposed submitting their own plan to the
court, saying it would get broad acceptance, according to documents
filed with a U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware on Friday, the newswire
reported.
U.S. Bishops Elect New Chief in Wake of Sex Scandal
U.S. Catholic bishops, facing the financial aftermath of a pervasive
child sex abuse scandal, elected a president on Monday whose diocese
plans to seek bankruptcy protection from dozens of alleged victims,
Reuters reported. The new leader, Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane,
Washington, is the first president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops chosen since the sex scandal surfaced more than two years ago.
He follows Bishop Wilton Gregory of Belleville, Illinois, whose
three-year term ends this week.
Air Canada to Expand International Jet Fleet
Air Canada expects to add six large used jets on its Asian and Latin
American routes by next summer to reap further profits from flights to
those regions, the airline said on Monday, Reuters reported. In a
conference call with analysts, Robert Milton, president and CEO, said
the Montreal-based airline was “scouring the used aircraft
market” for wide-body, long-haul Boeing 767 and Airbus 340 jets,
the newswire reported.
W.R. Grace Shares Fall, Plan Filed Without Consensus
Shares of W.R. Grace and Co. fell as much as 13 percent on Monday
after the bankrupt chemical maker, which faces lawsuits from people
sickened by asbestos, filed a reorganization plan without an agreement
with creditors, Reuters reported. W.R. Grace filed its plan in a
Delaware U.S. bankruptcy court on Saturday without reaching a consensus
on the plan with representatives of three creditors committees and
equity holders, and the representative of future asbestos claimants.