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December 2, 2005
name='1'>Hurricane
Victims’ Bills Coming Due
Many lenders are
extending
the deadline for repayment or making arrangements to spread the
payments over
several months to make life easier on borrowers, some of whom are
jobless and
displaced, the Washington Post reported yesterday. For
instance, New
Orleans resident Louis Green has until January to make his first
payment, but
even that deadline is negotiable. "They told me we should talk
again then
to see what arrangements will be made." But as the moratorium on
payments
comes to an end, borrowers, lenders and investors holding the notes
are heading
into uncharted territory, without clear guidance from the government
or a historical
precedent for what to do next.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/30/AR20051…'>Read
more.
id='2'>Court:
Montana Co. Must Pay $54M for Asbestos Cleanup
A federal appeals
court has
upheld an order requiring W.R. Grace & Co. to pay the government
$54.5 million
for asbestos cleanup in Libby, Mont., the Associated Press reported
yesterday.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday agreed with a lower
court’s
ruling that the company, which filed for bankruptcy in 2001, must pay
the Environmental
Protection Agency the full $54.5 million for asbestos cleanup in
Libby, along
with any future costs. Grace attorneys had argued that the EPA was
overstepping
its authority.
href='http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/12/0…'>Read
more.
id='3'>Over
Merck Objections, N.J. Judge Combines Vioxx Cases for Trials
The judge presiding
over
3,500 Vioxx cases in New Jersey has set Feb. 27 as the next trial
date, this
time for a consolidated trial of two plaintiffs’ claims, despite
drug maker
Merck & Co.’s urging that each case be decided on its own
facts, the New
Jersey Law Journal reported yesterday. Superior Court Judge Carol
Higbee
in Atlantic County also scheduled three cases for trial on April 24
and two
for June 12. Plaintiffs lawyers, who favor consolidation so that more
of the
cases can be heard sooner, say that the groupings would avoid
duplication of
evidence.
href='http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1133431509592'>Subscription
required to read full article.
id='4'>Illinois
Mayor Indicted on Bankruptcy Fraud
The mayor of
Chicago suburb
Justice, Ill., is charged with bankruptcy fraud, ABC 7 News reported
yesterday.
An indictment unsealed this week alleges that 58-year-old Melvin
Vanallen, Jr.
hid assets he should have disclosed in a 2004 personal bankruptcy
filing. He’s
also charged with illegally structuring cash transactions. According
to the
indictment, Vanallen broke up bank deposits into amounts less than
$10,000,
to evade bank-reporting requirements. Vanallen would not comment on
the indictment
because he hadn’t read it yet. He is set to appear in court
Monday.
id='5'>Price
Waterhouse Asks Judge To Dismiss Claims
Accounting giant
Price-Waterhouse-Coopers
has asked a federal judge to dismiss claims for millions of dollars in
the bankruptcy
of Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co., KQNT-AM reported today.
The new
management of Met Mortgage contends that Price-Waterhouse, one of the
nation’s
Big Four accounting firms, was negligent in performing audits of the
company.
In a lawsuit filed this fall against Price-Waterhouse, Met Mortgage
alleged
that in some instances the auditor helped Metropolitan erect financial
schemes
that masked losses. A hearing set for Dec. 13 before a U.S. District
Judge will
be the first legal test of accusations that outside auditors should
shoulder
blame for Metropolitan’s collapse, and provide money for
creditors.
id='6'>Imported
Auto Parts Make Deep Advance in U.S.
Under fire on
nearly all
fronts, the beleaguered U.S. auto parts sector is losing ground at an
alarming
rate to overseas manufacturers, according to a report released
yesterday by
the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. After maintaining a roughly
balanced level
trade through most of the 1990s, the nation’s parts-export
business stalled
four years ago at $40 billion while imports nearly doubled, topping
$77 billion
in 2004. “As a result, a substantial trade deficit in
motor-vehicle parts
emerged in the Unites States in the early years of the 21st
century,”
the report’s authors wrote. The report was written by Thomas
Kleir, a senior
economist at the Chicago Fed, and James Rubenstein, a professor at
Miami University
of Ohio.
href='http://news.morningstar.com/news/DJ/M12/D02/200512020107DOWJONESDJONLIN…'>Read
more.
id='7'>Two
Bidders Vie for Levitz
The future of
Levitz Home
Furnishings Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection in October,
remains
uncertain after an auction for the company was adjourned last night
without
a winning bidder, Newsday.com reported. The two contenders were
Prentice Capital
Management, the Manhattan hedge fund that provided financing for
Levitz after
it filed for bankruptcy, and Schultze Asset Management, a
distressed-debt investor
from Purchase, N.Y. The auction will resume today.
href='http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzfurn014533720dec01,0,4218280.story'>Read
more.
id='8'>Bankruptcy
Judge Approves Winn-Dixie Costs
A bankruptcy judge
approved
about $23.4 million in fees and expenses yesterday for attorneys and
consultants
working to reorganize the bankrupt supermarket chain Winn-Dixie Stores
Inc.,
the Associated Press reported today. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jerry Funk
allowed
the payments after naming a fee examiner, whose job it will be to
reviews the
fees charged by the law firms and consultants in the massive
bankruptcy case
and determine whether they are proper.
href='http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Business/Headlines/…'>Read
more.
id='9'>Southern
California Poker Tour Producer Files for Bankruptcy
Southern California
Poker
Tour (SCPT) Executive Producer Barry Dodd has filed for chapter 7
liquidation,
Poker News reported today. According to a clerk of the U.S.
Bankruptcy
Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego,
Dodd’s bankruptcy
filing was his second in the past seven years. Dodd listed more than
100 creditors
in his latest bankruptcy filing, which was primarily caused by
financial problems
encountered by the SCPT during its short existence.
href='http://www.pokernews.com/news/2005/12/southern-california-poker-tour-ba…'>Read
more.
id='10'>Calpine
Offers to Buy Back $400 Million of Debt
Calpine Corp.,
which has
warned that it might consider filing for bankruptcy, offered yesterday
to buy
back up to $400 million of its senior secured debt using proceeds left
over
from its sale of some of its natural gas assets, Reuters reported
today. The
company said that it plans to pay $1,000 per $1,000 principal amount,
plus accrued
and unpaid interest, of its 9 5/8 percent first-priority senior
secured notes
due in 2014. The offer is scheduled to expire on Dec. 29.
id='11'>EaglePicher
Term Sheet, Financing Announced
EaglePicher
announced that
it agreed to a term sheet with their official committee of unsecured
creditors
for a consensual plan of reorganization in their chapter 11 cases,
BankruptcyData.com
reported yesterday. The plan term sheet provides for the transfer of
substantially
all of the operating assets of the companies to newly formed
companies. EaglePicher
also announced it has obtained court approval of a previously
announced commitment
from Goldman Sachs Credit Partners for $295 million of senior secured
debtor-in-possession
financing and a commitment from Tennenbaum and Angelo, Gordon for $50
million
of junior secured debtor-in-possession financing, subject to normal
closing
conditions.
id='12'>Financial
Guru Charged with Tax Fraud
A financial guru
whose own
business went bust was charged along with his wife yesterday with
eight counts
of tax fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, the Associated
Press reported.
Federal prosecutors accuse Wade B. Cook, 56, and his wife Laura of
concealing
nearly $8.9 million in seminar fees and book royalties from 1998 to
2000. Wade
Cook conducted hundreds of the seminars on asset protection, stock
investing,
real estate acquisition and avoidance of income tax, the U.S.
attorney’s office
said in a statement. His books include ”Wall Street Money
Machine,” ”Wealth
101” and ”Business by the Bible.”
href='http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Wade-Cook-Taxes.html'>Read
more.
Airlines
id='13'>United
to Pay $21.6 Million in Back Taxes
Denver officials
said yesterday
that United Airlines has agreed to pay $21.6 million in back taxes as
the airline
works to emerge from bankruptcy protection, the Associated Press
reported. The
settlement with United’s parent, UAL Corp., covers city tax
claims from July
2000 to June 2004, and includes applicable penalties and interest,
Mayor John
Hickenlooper said. The payments cover property, sales, use and
occupational
privilege taxes.
id='14'>Grinstein’s
Delta in Huge Loss After Chapter 11
Delta Air Lines
claims that
its chapter 11 status has cost it a lot more than most firms,
Forbes
reported yesterday. Led by CEO Gerald Grinstein, the carrier late
Wednesday
said that it lost a staggering $1.14 billion in the initial six weeks
of its
case. With the loss, Grinstein’s firm is a "winner" in
one very dubious
way: Its net loss for the aforementioned six weeks topped the $346
million that
Northwest said that it lost during the same Sept. 14 to Oct. 31
period.
href='http://www.forbes.com/2005/12/01/delta-northwest-loss-cx_gl_1201autofac…'>Read
more.
id='15'>FLYi
Objection Filed
Kelly Stapleton,
the U.S.
Trustee assigned to the FLYi case, filed an objection with the court
to the
company’s motion to retain Sabre as management consultant
nunc pro tunc
as of the commencement date, BankruptcyData.com reported yesterday.
The Trustee
objects on the grounds that the disclosure of connections is
incomplete and
the indemnification provisions are inappropriate.
id='16'>BP
Buys Olympic Pipe Line
Energy group BP PLC
said
yesterday that it has become the sole owner of the Olympic Pipe Line
Co. after
buying shares previously held by Shell Pipeline Co. LP. Three people
died in
June 1999, when a section of the main Olympic pipeline ruptured in
Bellingham,
Wash., releasing nearly 237,000 gallons of gasoline that exploded into
a fireball
along Whatcom Creek. A wrongful death lawsuit filed by two
victims’ families
was settled for $75 million. Olympic Pipeline filed for chapter 11
bankruptcy
reorganization in 2003. The company, based in south suburban Seattle,
was owned
62.5 percent by BP and 37.5 percent by Shell at the time.
id='17'>Tower
M.O.R. Filed
Tower Automotive
filed with
its monthly operating report for the period ended Oct, 31,
BankruptcyData.com
reported yesterday. For the month, the company reported a net income
of $1.52
million on revenues of $153.2 million, total assets of $1.7 billion
and total
liabilities of $2.2 billion.
id='18'>Overexpansion
Leads to Winery Bankruptcy
Legacy Estate
Group, the
holding company for Freemark Abbey Winery in St. Helena,Calif., has
filed a
chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Rosa,
the San
Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday. The filing comes just
eight months
after the company purchased Arrowood Vineyards & Winery of Glen
Ellen and
Santa Maria-based Byron Vineyard & Winery from Constellation
Brands. Legacy
CFO David Henriksen told Wine Business Insider that day-to-day
operations
at all the wineries will continue as normal. He said that the parent
company
filed the bankruptcy petition to allow itself time to refinance its
senior capital
structure.
href='http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/01/WIGNEFVVUC1.DTL'>Read
more.
id='19'>Car
Dealership Files for Chapter 11
A Geneseo, Ill.,
car dealership
has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the Quad-City
Times reported
yesterday. Owners of Maple Leaf Lincoln Mercury Inc., claim more than
$3.7 million
in debt, and $3.1 million in assets, in documents filed this month in
U.S. Bankruptcy
Court, Central District of Illinois, Peoria Division. The dealership
estimates
having 50-99 creditors, and lists its biggest debt as more than $3.67
million,
owed to National City Bank in Rock Island for new and used car
inventory, car
parts and other expenses, according to documents in the bankruptcy
case filed
Oct. 28.
href='http://www.qctimes.net/articles/2005/12/01/news/business/doc438e9220964…'>Read
more.
International
id='20'>Greater
Data Sharing Among U.K. Card Issuers
Experian, the
U.K.’s
leading credit reference agency, welcomed plans announced by
Barclaycard, the
Co-operative Bank, Egg and Abbey yesterday to share additional
cardholder data
on credit cards to help identify customers getting into financial
difficulty,
Business Credit Management UK reported yesterday. The
additional data
to be shared among the issuers will include how much is being spent on
the card
each month, how much is being repaid each month, how much cash has
been taken
out, any recent increases or changes to credit limits, any checks sent
for payment
that bounce and how many people can use the card.
href='http://www.creditman.biz/uk/members/news-view.asp?newsviewID=5443&id=1&…'>Read
more.
id='21'>Aussie
Plastic Debt to Reach $48B
Consumer borrowing
through
credit card is predicted to reach just under $48 billion in Australia
by 2009
prompting calls for tighter government regulation to curb potentially
unsustainable
borrowing, the Financial Standard reported today. The inaugural
research
on credit card debt conducted by market analyst Datamonitor has
revealed that
consumer borrowing through credit cards is predicted to jump by more
than 70
percent from $27.7 billion in 2004 to $47.7 billion by 2009. Even if
the nation’s
credit card growth is muted compared to other parts of the world,
Virgin Money
called on the government to impose tighter regulation.
href='http://www.financialstandard.com.au/index.php?id=6929%5C'>Read
more.
id='22'>South
Australian Asbestos Law Seen as Historic
The passing of an
asbestos
victims’ bill through the South Australian Parliament is being
credited with
putting the state at the forefront in caring for the families of
people suffering
from asbestos-related diseases, ABC News reported today. The bill,
which is
designed to speed up the handling and resolution of claims, attracted
bipartisan
support yesterday to pass through both houses of Parliament. The new
law also
sets a national precedent with asbestos victims able to seek
compensation for
their families.