size='2'>TERI Okayed to Collect Payments
The Education Resources Institute Inc. will now be collecting payments
on student loans for Sovereign Bank NA and PNC Bank
NA.
id='FONT43'>Analysis: Early Nortel Bankruptcy
Might Be Smart
It might make sense for Nortel to
declare bankruptcy sooner rather than later in an effort to be in as
strong a position as possible when it happens.
size='2'>Commentary: Bush's Deal with GM and
Chrysler Might Work if Obama Enforces It
Christmas has come early for General Motors and Chrysler, according to a
commentary.
size='2'>VP: Congress Failed Struggling
Automakers
Vice President Dick Cheney blamed Congress for failing to bail out the
auto industry, saying the White House was forced to step in to save U.S.
car companies.
size='2'>Baltimore's Inner Harbor Marketplace Up
for Sale; General Growth Trying to Avert Bankruptc
Baltimore's Inner Harbor marketplace, which transformed
the city's industrial waterfront, triggered a downtown renaissance and
has been replicated in cities across the nation, is up for sale as its
corporate owner fights to stave off bankruptcy.
size='2'>Views Diverge on How To Recast Fannie,
Freddie
Policymakers are looking to revamp the nation's home loan system next
year after the collapse of U.S. housing and mortgage markets spurred the
current economic crisis.
id='STRONG65'>Performing Brands Chapter 7 Petition Filed
Performing Brands (f.k.a. Boo Koo Holdings) filed for chapter 7
protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of
Texas, case number 08-36541.
id='STRONG70'>'Commingling' Concern Raised over Dreier Assets; Judge
Authorizes Trustee
Southern District of New York Chief Bankruptcy Judge Stuart M. Bernstein
authorized the appointment of a trustee for the Dreier LLP Chapter 11
proceeding at an emergency hearing on Friday.
size='2'>Circuit City Heads to Court in Virginia
for Hearing
Circuit City Stores Inc. is heading into U.S. Bankruptcy Court today for
a hearing to seek final approval of financing to be used while it is in
chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to an Associated Press
report. The nation's second-biggest electronics retailer filed for
bankruptcy protection last month as it faced pressure from vendors and
as consumer spending waned. Circuit City, based in Richmond, Va., was
granted interim approval last month to secure $1.1 billion in
debtor-in-possession loans while it is in bankruptcy protection. Those
funds, needed to stock merchandise and pay employees, replace a $1.3
billion asset-backed loan the company had been using.
href='http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081222/circuit_city_bankruptcy.html?.v=1'>Read
size='2'>Developers Ask for Bailout as Massive
Debt Looms
With a record amount of commercial real-estate debt coming due,
some of the country's biggest property developers have become the latest
to go ask the government for assistance, as reported by the Wall
Street Journal on Monday. Developers warned policymakers that
thousands of office complexes, hotels, shopping centers and other
commercial buildings are headed into defaults, foreclosures and
bankruptcies. Unlike home loans, which borrowers repay after a set
period of time, commercial mortgages usually are underwritten for five,
seven or 10 years with big payments due at the end. At that point, they
typically need to be refinanced. A borrower's inability to refinance
could force it to give up the property to the lender. To head off some
of the impending pain, the industry is asking to be included in a new
$200 billion loan program initially created by the government to salvage
the market for car loans, student loans and credit-card debt. This money
is intended to go directly to help investors finance purchases of
securities backed by these assets. If commercial real estate is
included, banks might have an incentive to make more loans to developers
since they'd be able to repackage and sell them more easily to investors
with the assurance of government backing.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122991429181825709.html'>
face='Arial' color='#0000ff' size='2'>Read
more.
size='2'>Bankruptcy Threat Looms against Merendon Mining
id='BR91'>
Merendon Mining Inc., which was named earlier this year in an
alleged tax scheme involving seven NFL football players, may be forced
into bankruptcy, the Denver Business Journal reported on
Friday. Three creditors of the Broomfield, Colo.-based gold-mining
company filed a petition for involuntary chapter 7 bankruptcy in U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in Denver on Dec. 10. The company has 20 days to
respond. The company allegedly participated in a fraudulent tax-break
scheme that involved at least seven current or former NFL players,
according to two Justice Department lawsuits filed in February 2008. The
three creditors trying to force the Colorado company into bankruptcy
— John Broderick Jr. of Florida, Karin LaPadula and Roger Soucy of
California — are among seven plaintiffs who filed the earlier
civil case. The three say that they’re owed a collective
$823,329.50.
href='http://eastbay.bizjournals.com/eastbay/othercities/denver/stories/2008/12/22/story15.html?b=1229922000^1750283'>Read
more.
size='2'>Petters Scandal Blurs Polaroid Picture
Tom Petters' fraud scandal has taken down more than one Petters
Group Worldwide LLC company in the past few months. Now Polaroid Corp.,
best known for its instant photographs, has become the latest victim,
TheDeal.com. reported today. Minnetonka, Minn.-based Polaroid filed for
chapter 11 on Dec. 18, with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District
of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Polaroid is no stranger to financial
restructurings, having first filed for chapter 11 on Oct. 12, 2001. But
this time around, the company laid its problems at the feet of Petters
Group, the controversial venture capital fund that has owned Polaroid
since 2005. Polaroid claimed in a statement that its operations are
strong, but that its financial restructuring and bankruptcy result from
the issues surrounding Petters Group. Petters Group filed for bankruptcy
on Oct. 11 in Minneapolis, eight days after former owner, chairman and
CEO Tom Petters was arrested and jailed on charges of mail fraud, wire
fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice. Petters is accused
of more than $3 billion in fraud activity. According to documents the
FBI filed in a U.S. District Court, Petters and associates allegedly ran
a scheme in which billions of dollars of fake merchandise was bought and
sold over a 13-year period. The Petters controversy has already resulted
in the bankruptcies of Sun Country Airlines Inc. (which Petters' company
owns) and Lancelot Investors Fund LP (which made $1.5 billion in loans
or investments to Petters entities). And now the alleged fraud has
claimed Polaroid. Polaroid said that the investigation has compromised
its financial condition, triggering its bankruptcy. The company noted,
however, that neither Polaroid nor its management are subjects of any
probes.
href='http://www.thedeal.com/servlet/ContentServer?cid=1229013210513&pagename=TheDeal%2FNWStArticle&c=TDDArticle'>Read
more.