April 28,
2004
Senate Class Action Debate
To Resume In Early June
The Senate is scheduled to resume work June 1 on a modified version of
the bipartisan class action bill that stalled more than six months ago,
a spokeswoman for Senate Finance Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said
yesterday, CongressDaily reported. Senate consideration of
the measure is expected to continue through June 4.
The Senate had expected to debate the class action bill last October,
but fell one vote short of the 60 votes needed to break a Democratic
filibuster. 'We are extremely pleased that after six years, the United
States Senate will finally have the opportunity to debate and vote on
legislation to fix the country's broken state court class action
system,' said Stanton Anderson, executive vice president and chief legal
officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But more than 70 consumer,
civil rights and environmental groups oppose the legislation, arguing it
would make it more difficult for potential plaintiffs to seek justice
through the class action system when corporations violate state laws,
the enwswire reported.
Bankrupt Firm Cannot
Guarantee Asbestos Funds
Negotiations this week, aimed
at settling differences on legislation creating a federal trust fund to
compensate asbestos victims, so far show little progress, according to
sources familiar with the talks, CongressDaily reported. And the
announcement on Tuesday by the largest contributor to the fund that it
could not guarantee the $2.2 billion it is slated to pay as part of the
legislation complicates the situation further, the newswire reported.
Bankrupt auto-parts maker Federal Mogul asked senators to reduce the
company's expected contribution, to allow it to emerge from bankruptcy
and preserve the jobs of 20,000 employees. 'Any increase would not only
be manifestly unfair and unsustainable, but unfair to the company's
ability to continue operations and maintain U.S. jobs,' the company said
in a letter to senators, CongressDaily reported.
Meanwhile, a Senate leadership
aide said today the meetings probably would continue through the week.
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), a key negotiator on the asbestos bill,
said he thought the process could yield an agreement forming the basis
of legislation that could pass the Senate, the newswire
reported.
British Boom Driven by
Personal Debt
While major European countries
like France and Germany are stalled, forecasts of the British economy
say it will grow 3 to 3.5 percent this year, much of it driven by
consumer spending as manufacturing, once the cornerstone, struggles, the
New York Times reported.
In the last quarter of 2003,
British borrowers added a total $28.8 billion to their mortgages, the
highest quarterly figure on record, pushing up spending on cars, stereos
and other consumer goods. Credit card debt stands at over $80 billion -
around 5 percent of Britain's annual economic output - and grew $1.3
billion in January alone, according to the Bank of England. Britain's
total consumer debt, including mortgages is estimated at $1.8 trillion,
according to the Times. Read the
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/28/business/worldbusiness/28britain.html'>full
article.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge
Approves MCI Embratel Sale
A U.S. bankruptcy judge on
Tuesday approved a deal by MCI Inc. to sell its controlling stake in
Brazil's largest long-distance operator, Embratel, to Mexico's Telmex
for $400 million, Reuters reported. The decision by Judge Arthur
Gonzalez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan appeared to
put an end to the six-week dispute that has pitted some of Latin
America's largest telecommunications groups against each other. 'The
soap opera is over,' said Eduardo Roche, an analyst at BES Securities in
Rio de Janeiro. 'We're confirming something that we've been waiting for
since mid-March, the
PG&E Reaffirms 2004
Earnings Forecast
PG&E Corp. on Tuesday
reaffirmed its earnings forecast for the year and said non-cash gains
would boost first quarter results, Reuters reported. The San
Francisco-based company said on Feb. 19 that it expects earnings from
operations for the parent and its utility unit to be in the range of
$2.00 to $2.10 per share. It reiterated that forecast just last week.
The guidance excludes another unit, National Energy & Gas
Transmission, which is under bankruptcy protection and has been
classified as a discontinued operation.
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Posts Loss, Sees Major Changes Ahead
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posted a big quarterly loss on Tuesday and said it is trying to cut
costs and quickly overhaul its business to survive challenges from
low-cost rivals, Reuters reported. The company has already approached
labor groups about negotiating givebacks and could seek concessions from
lenders, debt holders and other groups.
New
Air
Deal Wins Cautious Thumbs Up
size='3'>Air
unions and creditors reacted with guarded optimism on Tuesday to a new
rescue plan of the insolvent airline by Deutsche Bank AG, Reuters
reported. The C$850 million ($630 million) agreement will provide
creditors with a larger part of the carrier once it emerges from
bankruptcy protection, but it also requires further cost-cutting efforts
from reluctant unions. 'It's a step in the right direction,' said Harvey
Strosberg, an Ontario-based lawyer for Mizuho Financial PLC, a unit of
Japanese banking giant Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and an Air Canada
creditor, Reuters reported.
Global Crossing Looks at
Restatement
Telecommunications company
Global Crossing Ltd., which recently emerged from bankruptcy, said on
Tuesday it expects to restate its results for 2003, Reuters reported.
Global Crossing said it would restate its 2003 earnings, review its 2002
results and delay reports for this year. The Bermuda-based firm said it
understated liabilities for access charges -- fees paid to other phone
companies for connecting calls -- in its 2003 financial statements by
$50 million to $80 million. The company had said it would try to arrange
new financing by June 30, but said the accounting problem could delay
such a deal. The company said in its annual report it needed up to $100
million in funding this year, and it would require 'substantial
additional financing' for future years, the newswire
reported.
Court Approves
Sale
Stake To Rusal
Bankrupt Kaiser Aluminum Corp.
got approval on Monday from a
court to sell its 65-percent interest in Alpart, a Jamaican alumina and
bauxite joint venture, to Russian Aluminium for about $295 million,
Kaiser's top executive said, Reuters reported. Jack A. Hockema, Kaiser's
president and CEO, said the Bankruptcy Court for the District of
Delaware had approved RusAl's offer from last week's court-ordered
auction for Kaiser's stake in Alumina Partners of Jamaica.