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March 10, 2009
Senate Panel to Examine
Further Regulation of Securities Markets
The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing today
entitled “Investor Protection and the Regulation of Securities
Markets.” The hearing, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET, will take
place in Room 538 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
href='http://banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=9d1167e9-7be7-4651-aa9f-a562e98ee40b'>Click
here to view the witness list and to watch the live Webcast of
the hearing.
FDIC Chair Pushes for
Troubled Asset Plan
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Sheila C. Bair
said yesterday that the government's plan to strip banks of troubled
assets could force some firms to record large losses, but the painful
purge would help restore confidence in the banking system, the
size='3'>Washington Post reported
today. Bair
said that the effort might require more money than the $700 billion
Congress has approved to aid the financial industry, but she added that
taxpayers would probably reap an eventual profit on the asset purchases.
She said the greatest challenge was persuading banks and taxpayers to
accept the necessity of the costly program. The government plans to
partner with private investors to buy troubled assets, in part by
providing financing at low cost. Bair and other federal officials said
discussions were ongoing about the appropriate extent of the federal
subsidy. A larger government contribution would allow investors to pay
higher prices, limiting the losses that banks would record but also
exposing taxpayers to greater risk.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/09/AR2009030902627_pf.html'>Read
more.
Fed Chair Outlines Steps to
Avoid Future Crises
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke today
outlined steps he thinks would help avert future financial crises,
saying that the time for such a discussion has come even as policymakers
address the worst crisis since the 1930s, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Wall Street Journal
size='3'>reported. He outlined four steps related to systemically
important and interconnected firms, financial infrastructure, regulation
and addressing systemic risks under one authority. Referring to 'too big
to fail' companies, Bernanke said 'any firm whose failure would
pose a systemic risk must receive especially close supervisory oversight
of its risk-taking, risk management, and financial condition, and be
held to high capital and liquidity standards.' He also suggested ways to
address the 'potential fragility' of money-market mutual funds. 'One
approach would be to impose tighter restrictions on the instruments in
which money market mutual funds can invest, potentially requiring
shorter maturities and increased liquidity,' Bernanke said.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123668789696582707.html'>Read
more. (Subscription required.)
Energy into Chapter 11
Oil and gas exploration and development company
Pacific Energy Resources Ltd. and seven affiliates sought chapter 11
protection Sunday, citing a precipitous drop in the price of crude oil
over the past five months,
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360
size='3'>reported yesterday. Pacific Energy currently owes $397.8
million, including $361.1 million in secured debt, to a Goldman Sachs
Group Inc. affiliate and Silver Point LP, according to an affidavit
filed Monday by Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Gerald
A. Tywoniuk. The debt comes from acquiring offshore assets in California
and Alaska in 2006 and 2007. Pacific Energy said that it has acquired
$40 million in debtor-in-possession financing to continue to fund
working capital, meet its obligations and continue operations as it
restructures.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/articles/90593'>Read
more. (Subscription required.)
Asarco Woos Sterlite with
Lower $1.1 Billion Price Tag
Fearing the loss of its most promising buyer, bankrupt
copper mining company Asarco LLC has signed a new agreement to sell the
bulk of its operating assets to Sterlite Inc. by agreeing to lower the
purchase price from $2.6 billion to $1.1 billion,
face='Times New Roman'>
size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360 reported yesterday.
Asarco yesterday revealed the tentative new sale agreement with
Sterlite, a subsidiary of Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. and Vedanta
Resources PLC. In addition to Sterlite paying over $1.1 billion, a
senior secured, noninterest bearing promissory note for $600 million
will also be executed, which will be payable over nine years. Under the
deal, Sterlite will acquire three copper mines, associated mills,
plants and a copper smelter in Arizona, and a copper refinery, rod
and cake plants, and precious metals plant in Texas, according to
Asarco. Read
more. (Subscription required.)
U.S. Regulators Weigh
Further Rescue Steps for Citigroup
Barely a week after the third rescue of Citigroup
Inc., U.S. officials are examining what fresh steps they might need to
take to stabilize the bank if its problems continue to mount, the
Wall Street Journal reported today. Federal officials describe
the discussions, which are wide-ranging and preliminary, as 'contingency
planning.' Citi executives said that they haven't detected signs of
corporate clients or trading partners withdrawing their business, even
though the New York company's shares are hovering near $1 apiece --
closing Monday at $1.05 on the New York Stock Exchange. Citigroup says
it has a strong liquidity position and that its capital levels are among
the highest in the banking industry.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123664734657878827.html#'>Read
more. (Subscription required.)
UAW Says Ford Workers
Ratified Concessions
Hourly workers at Ford Motor Co. ratified sweeping
cost-cutting changes in their labor contract, a development likely to
increase pressure on struggling competitors General Motors Corp. and
Chrysler LLC to secure similar concessions, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Wall Street Journal
size='3'>reported today. Ford and the UAW leadership agreed last month
on restrictions on overtime and unemployment pay and cutbacks in work
rules and cost-of-living wage increases, as well as the replacement of
up to half of Ford's cash obligation to its retiree health care fund
with company stock. Worker approval of the union concessions at Ford
came as GM and Chrysler hosted President Barack Obama's auto industry
task force as part of their bids to win billions of dollars more in
federal aid. Both GM and Chrysler are racing up to a March 31 deadline
by which the government is supposed to render judgment on the companies'
viability.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123662654608974841.html'>Read
more. (Subscription required.)
AIG Warned of
“Catastrophic” Failure Prior to Latest
Bailout
On the eve of its latest bailout, American
International Group warned U.S. government officials that it needed more
help from the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve to prevent
'potentially catastrophic unforeseen consequences,' the
face='Times New Roman'>
size='3'>Washington Post reported today. The
company warned that a collapse, for instance, would strain the global
insurance industry, hurt the value of the dollar and damage money-market
funds. AIG’s failure, it added, would also erase taxpayers'
existing investment in the firm and foster 'doubts about the ability of
the U.S. to support its banking system.' On March 2, the government
announced that it would ease the terms of its existing loans to AIG and
give the struggling company access to an additional $30 billion, raising
the total rescue package to an estimated $170 billion. That same day,
AIG posted a $61.7 billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2008, the
largest such loss in U.S. corporate history.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/09/AR2009030902806_pf.html'>Read
more.
Ohio AG Sues Gift
Certificate Company
Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray said yesterday
that he has filed a lawsuit against CertifiChecks Inc., accusing the
bankrupt company of failing to honor its gift certificates for
restaurants and retailers, the Associated Press reported yesterday.
Certifichecks, which had operated in 47 states, says it has ceased
operations because of the difficult economic environment and is filing
for chapter 7 bankruptcy. The Dayton-based company asks that any
unredeemed certificates be submitted to the company for potential
reimbursement. Cordray accused CertifiChecks of violating Ohio's
Consumer Sales Practices Act by failing to honor the certificates after
accepting payment from consumers. He says consumers holding unredeemed
certificates may receive only pennies on the dollar if CertifiChecks
files for bankruptcy.
Judge Approves Auction
Plan for Yellowstone Club
Bankruptcy Judge
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Ralph Kirscher
size='3'>yesterday approved a plan to auction the financially troubled
Yellowstone Club to the highest bidder, the Associated Press reported
yesterday. Judge Kirscher also approved CrossHarbor Capital Partners LLC
as the club's stalking-horse bidder with a bid of $100 million.
Recently-filed court documents show that creditors have made claims
against the club topping $433 million -- $34 million more than
previously reported. The auction will begin 10 days before a
confirmation hearing on the reorganization plan, but that hearing has
not been scheduled.
href='http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Bankruptcy-judge-OKs-auction-apf-14586107.html'>Read
more.
San Francisco
Chronicle, Union Reach
Deal
The San Francisco Chronicle has reached a
tentative agreement with its largest union on contract concessions, a
key step in keeping the newspaper from being sold or closed, CNN.com
reported today. The
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Chronicle told
employees last month that the paper was at risk of closing or being sold
if it did not stop bleeding millions. Members of the California Media
Workers Guild will vote as early as Thursday on the contract changes.
Details of the agreement were not immediately available. Hearst Corp.,
which owns the
face='Times New







Roman'
size='3'>Chronicle, had said earlier that the
paper has lost money every year since 2001, including more than $50
million last year.
href='http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/10/chronicle.deal/'>Read
more.
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