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November 8, 2005
id='2'>Grassley
to Discuss Pension, Other Reforms
The U.S. Chamber of
Commerce
(USCC) is hosting a discussion with Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa)
today on
a range of issues, including taxes, pensions and retirement security.
Location:
USCC, 1615 H St., NW, Washington, D.C., 8 a.m. EDT. Contact: (202)
463-5682,
press@uschamber.com or
href='http://www.uschamber.com/calendar.asp'>visit
the Web site.
id='3'>Doctors,
Lawyers Battle over Tort Reform
In Washington
state, the
complex issue of medical malpractice reform is going before voters in
dueling
ballot measures, the National Law Journal reported today.
Special-interest
groups placed the medical malpractice initiatives on today’s
ballot and have
sparred in multimillion-dollar campaigns. The issue that has turned
some state
Supreme Court elections into heavily politicized, well-financed and
hard-fought
battles. In one corner are medical and business groups, whose Health
Care Access
Initiative 330 seeks to cap noneconomic damages, restrict attorney
fees, reduce
the statute of limitations and eliminate the collateral source rule.
In the
opposite corner are trial lawyers, whose Better Safer Healthcare
Initiative
336 would, among other things, remove a doctor’s license after
three malpractice
verdicts within 10 years, create a supplemental malpractice insurance
fund and
mandate reporting of settlements, judgments and payouts exceeding
$100,000.
Read the
full
story.
id='4'>Pension
Plans More Risky
Employees whose
companies
switch from traditional pension plans to an increasingly adopted
alternative
generally lose benefits, congressional auditors have found,
Congress Daily
reported yesterday. The report by the Government Accounting Office
(GAO), released
Friday, adds to the debate over the nation’s private pension
system. Democratic
lawmakers, who last year asked the GAO to examine the matter, see the
report
as fresh evidence that the so-called cash-balance pension plans hurt
workers,
the Associated Press reported. Critics of the plans maintain that they
unfairly
discriminate against older workers. GAO auditors, who examined 31
large-company
pension plans and 102 smaller ones, found that when employers switch
from defined-benefit
pension plans to cash-balance plans, "most workers, regardless of
age,
would have received greater benefits under the [defined-benefit]
plan."
Airlines
id='5'>Independence
Miles May Vanish
When Delta,
Northwest, United
and even US Airways filed for bankruptcy protection, few consumer
advocates
warned travelers to quickly use up their frequent-flier miles, the
Washington
Post reported today. But as soon as Independence Air sought
bankruptcy court
protection yesterday, travel experts immediately began advising the
airline’s
1 million frequent fliers to cash in their frequent-flier points as
soon as
possible. The Dulles, Va.-based airline said yesterday that it hopes
to auction
some of its assets or find an equity investor by Jan. 5. Without the
additional
cash, most observers say that it’s unlikely that Independence
will be able to
emerge.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/07/AR20051…'>Read
more.
id='6'>Disney
Bid to Recoup Tax Losses Ruffles UAL Creditors
United
Airlines’ creditors
have sided with the airline in its battle with the Walt Disney Co.,
saying the
entertainment company’s bid to collect a debt could have a
"staggering"
effect on the airline’s other creditors, the Associated Press
reported today.
The dispute, scheduled for a hearing on Nov. 18 before a bankruptcy
judge in
Chicago, involves tax benefits that Disney said it lost when UAL
Corp., United’s
parent company, in 2003 rejected a lease on a Boeing 757 jet that was
partly
owned by Disney. Disney said that it’s entitled to full
compensation from the
airline. If the judge agrees, the airline could owe a total of $5.1
billion
in similar claims, said United and its creditors.
href='http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California2/Disney_UAL_Creditors_210472CA.sht…'>Read
more.
id='7'>Delphi
Unions to Work Together
All six unions
representing
Delphi Corp. workers and retirees said yesterday that they are forming
a coalition
to protest proposed wage and benefits cuts at the auto supplier, a
sign that
the company might face a strike if it presses demands for cutbacks,
the Washington
Post reported today. The Mobilizing at Delphi coalition will bring
together
unions that represent about 33,650 Delphi workers. CEO Robert S.
Miller Jr.
said that the company cannot afford the wage and benefit costs it
carries and
has proposed a 60 percent wage cut for some unionized workers. Miller
has also
mentioned the need for reductions in health care, vacation time and
pensions
and has said that the company needs relief from what he views as
inflexible
work rules. He has warned that he will ask the bankruptcy court to
void existing
contracts unless he is able to cut costs.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/07/AR20051…'>Read
more.
id='8'>Ex-bankruptcy
Attorney Admits Defrauding Clients
A former bankruptcy
attorney
accused of taking millions of dollars from his clients and using the
money for
himself pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court, the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
reported today. Federal agents from the Internal Revenue
Service’s Criminal
Investigation Division said that Daniel J. Gates, 44, used the money
to buy
expensive jewelry, artwork and sports memorabilia, as well as on his
show horses
in Butler County, Pa. Gates pleaded guilty to mail fraud, bank fraud,
money
laundering and bankruptcy fraud.
href='http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05312/602505.stm'>Read
the full story.
id='9'>aaiPharma
Shares Plummet on Reorganization Plan
The stock price of
bankrupt
drug-maker aaiPharma plunged almost 50 percent yesterday after the
company revealed
a reorganization plan recommending that existing shareholders receive
nothing
for their holdings, the Triangle Business Journal reported. As
part of
the plan filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of
Delaware,
aaiPharma creditors that hold the company’s 11.5 percent senior
notes will receive
100 percent of the reorganized company’s equity, the company
said in a filing
with securities regulators. aaiPharma also said that it plans to set
up a $4
million "litigation trust" to pursue its pending litigation
with several
parties. The company is facing class-action lawsuits from shareholders
and is
battling a former partner in court. Unsecured creditors will be
eligible for
100 percent of their pro-rata shares after such litigation is
complete,
the plan said.
id='10'>French
Businessman Sues Refco Entities, Banks
A French
businessman sued
a group including Thomas H. Lee Partners LLP; Refco LLC, the
regulated-brokerage
unit currently up for auction; and the Wall Street banks involved in
Refco Inc.’s
stock offerings, Dow Jones newswires reported today. The lawsuit,
filed Friday
in New York state court by Gerard Sillam with 39 total defendants,
demands fees
for what he says was his help when the Refco group of companies set up
and developed
its new securities business in Europe in 1999.
href='http://louisville.bizjournals.com/industries/economic_view/bankruptcies…'>Read
the full story.
id='11'>Visteon
Quarterly Net Loss Narrows
Auto parts maker
Visteon
yesterday posted a narrower quarterly loss from a year ago, when it
took heavy
charges, pressured by North America vehicle production cuts and high
raw materials
prices, Reuters reported today. The net loss narrowed to $200 million,
or $1.58
per share, from $1.44 billion, or $11.48 per share, a year earlier.
Results,
which are preliminary pending the completion of an accounting review,
included
9 cents per share of charges for non-U.S. actions. Analysts on average
expected
a loss of $1.33 per share, according to Reuters Estimates. On Oct. 1,
Visteon
returned 23 facilities to former parent Ford Motor Co. under a massive
bailout
to avoid bankruptcy. The move slashed annual revenue by about 40
percent to
$11.4 billion, but reduced the company’s reliance on Ford
business.
id='12'>EaglePicher
Commitments Obtained
EaglePicher
announced that
it has obtained a commitment from Goldman Sachs Credit Partners for
$295 million
of senior secured DIP financing and a commitment from Angelo, Gordon
& Co.
and Tennenbaum Capital Partners for $50 million of junior secured
debtor-in-possession
financing, subject to normal closing conditions, BankruptcyData.com
reported
today. The proceeds of this financing will be used to repay in full
EaglePicher’s
existing bank debt and its current DIP financing and is convertible
into financing
for the reorganized company upon court approval of a plan of
reorganization
and satisfaction of other conditions. Angelo, Gordon and Tennenbaum
are also
significant holders of the company’s 9.75 percent senior notes.
This financing
is subject to U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval and is expected to be
completed
by the end of 2005.
id='13'>Kaiser
Notice of Officers Filed
Kaiser Aluminum
filed a notice
of filing with the U.S. bankruptcy court of certain information
regarding the
initial board of directors of reorganized Kaiser Aluminum in
accordance with
its amended reorganization plan and §1129(a)(5) of the U.S.
Bankruptcy
Code, BankruptcyData.com reported today. The document lists the
following individuals
as the initial directors of the reorganized entity: Alfred Osborne,
Jr.; Jack
Quinn, Thomas M. Van Leeuwen; George Becker; Jack A. Hockema;
Georganne C. Proctor;
Brett E. Wilcox; Carl E. Frankel; Teresa A. Hopp; and William F.
Murdy. Five
of the members were selected by the search committee, four were
designated by
the U.S.W., and the last, Jack E. Hockema, will serve as reorganized
Kaiser
chief executive officer.
id='14'>Westpoint
Hearing Adjourned
The U.S. bankruptcy
court
adjourned until Dec. 6 a hearing to consider Westpoint Stevens’
motion for dismissal
of the chapter 11 proceedings and the granting of related relief,
BankruptcyData.com
today. The company has sought dismissal on the grounds that the
Debtors "lack
the ability to formulate a plan or carry one out," among other
reasons.