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September 26,
2005
name='1'>Senate Puts
Final Touches on Pension Bill
Finance Chairman
Chuck Grassley
(R-Iowa) and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Michael
Enzi (R-Wyo.)
are putting the final touches on pension legislation, the product of
merging
their two committee’s respective bills, Congress Daily
reported today.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has said that he wants to
move quickly
on a pension overhaul package in light of recent airline bankruptcy
filings,
as well as the worsening financial condition of the nation’s
pension insurer,
the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. A Senate Republican aide
said that
a pension measure might get a floor vote as soon as Thursday.
id='2'>Rollover
Loophole Can Hook Colorado Borrowers
State officials are
concerned
that a loophole in Colorado law is allowing payday lenders, which bill
themselves
as providers of short-term financial help, to keep cash-strapped
customers coming
back to their stores, the Denver Post reported today. State
Rep. Jim
Riesberg (D-Greeley, Colo.) said that he plans to introduce
legislation in January
to close the loophole. The oft-criticized payday-lending industry,
which is
regulated by the state attorney general’s office, provides quick
cash loans
of up to $500 for fees that translate into annual interest rates as
high as
520 percent.
href='http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_3059873'>Read the
full story.
id='3'>Entergy
Unit Files Chapter 11
A New Orleans-based
subsidiary
of the electric and gas utility Entergy has filed for bankruptcy in
the wake
of Hurricane Katrina, TheStreet.com reported on Friday. Entergy New
Orleans
filed for chapter 11 on Friday, having lost an estimated 130,000
customers to
the storm. Bankruptcy hearings for Entergy New Orleans are set for
today. The
company plans to borrow up to $200 million from its parent to pay
costs, including
wages, benefits, repairs and bills.
id='4'>World
Health Considers Filing
World Health
Alternatives
is weighing a bankruptcy filing as a California shareholder has
dropped plans
to buy the troubled medical staffing company, MSNBC.com reported
yesterday.
Eric Allison, an entrepreneur from Sacramento, Calif., said that he
received
no response to two offers that he made for the company early this
month. He
has since abandoned efforts to buy part of World Health or raise money
to keep
it afloat in the short term. World Health officials, who disclosed a
possible
bankruptcy filing in Securities and Exchange Commission documents, did
not return
calls seeking comment this week. Allison, a multimillionaire who sold
Sacramento,
Calif.-based Pulse Healthcare Staffing to World Health last year for
more than
$16 million, offered to buy it back after the national company went
into a tailspin
in August amid revelations of accounting irregularities.
Allison’s offer to
buy Pulse also included an offer for Travel Nurse Solutions in
Birmingham, Ala.
Allison’s offer drew calls from a majority of the
company’s big shareholders,
he said. Read the full
story.
id='5'>KPMG
to Pay More Than $50 Million
The Norwegian
branch of accounting
firm KPMG said that it will pay 347.3 million kroner ($53.6 million)
in damages
to eight banks over one of Norway’s worst bankruptcies, the
Associated Press
reported today. The out-of-court settlement came after weeks of
negotiations
and repeated delays of KPMG’s appeal of a June court order for
it to pay the
banks 656 million kroner ($101 million). The court had found KPMG
negligent
in auditing the books of Finance Credit, which went bankrupt in 2003
owing about
1.3 billion kroner ($200 million) to the banks. KPMG and the banks
said that
they sought a settlement to avoid years of court battles. Finance
Credit was
a collection agency, buying unpaid debts and then seeking to collect
the funds
plus fees. Co-founder Trond Kristoffersen was sentenced to nine years
in prison
and ordered to pay 1.2 billion kroner ($185 million) in damages for
fraud, hiding
assets and accounting violations.
href='http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2005/09/26/ap2243030.html'>Read
more.
id='6'>Four
N.Y. Firms Get Nod as First Debt Counselors
Financial
counseling soon
will be required for consumers who go to U.S. Bankruptcy Court once
sweeping
changes in federal law take effect Oct. 17, Newsday.com reported
yesterday.
The U.S. Trustee Program named the first batch of approved nonprofit
counseling
services late last week. So far, nonprofit organizations approved to
provide
the pre-filing counseling on Long Island and in New York City include
Consumer
Credit Counseling Service of Rochester, Greenpath, Money Management
International
and Springboard Nonprofit Consumer Credit Management.
href='http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzcouncil254440201sep25,0,7410129.st…'>Read
the full story.
id='7'>Massachusetts
Diocese To Settle Suit
Both sides in a sex
abuse
lawsuit against former Springfield, Mass., Bishop Thomas Dupre have
agreed to
try to settle the case out of court, the Associated Press reported
Saturday.
Lawyers for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield and the two men
who claim
that they were sexually abused by Dupre will try to reach an agreement
within
the next week. Plaintiffs Tuan Tran and Thomas Deshaies also have a
pending
suit against Dupre in Hampden Superior Court. A grand jury indicted
Dupre in
September 2004 on two counts of child rape. Hampden District Attorney
William
Bennett announced hours later that he would not pursue charges because
the statute
of limitations had expired.
id='8'>Analyst
Says Delphi Filing Unlikely
Shares of
auto-supplier Delphi
Corp. rose Friday after a key analyst said that it is likely that the
world’s
largest auto parts supplier will reach an agreement with former parent
General
Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers union to avoid bankruptcy,
the Associated
Press reported Saturday. Delphi shares were up 34 cents, to close at
$3.46.
Merrill Lynch analyst John Casesa raised his rating of Delphi stock
from neutral
to buy, saying that it is likely that GM and the UAW will reach terms
with Delphi
because a bankruptcy would be too costly. GM could be liable for $4.4
billion
to $6.7 billion worth of pension and health-care benefits for Delphi
employees
if the supplier goes bankrupt, Casesa said in a note to investors.
id='9'>Owners
of R.I. Club File for Bankruptcy
The owners of a
nightclub
where a fire killed 100 people filed for bankruptcy Friday, saying
they face
a staggering amount of debt and cannot pay creditors, the Associated
Press reported
Saturday. Jeffrey and Michael Derderian are asking to be released from
paying
what could be "insurmountable" monetary judgments against
them stemming
from the fire, said Christopher Lefebvre, the attorney who handled the
bankruptcy
filing. The filing comes exactly one week before the Derderians, who
owned The
Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I., were to stand trial in
Workers’ Compensation
Court on charges that they failed to make full payments to families of
four
workers killed in the Feb. 20, 2003 fire. Jeff Pine, a lawyer for
Jeffrey Derderian,
said that a motion would be filed with the workers compensation court,
and that
he expected those proceedings to be rendered moot.
id='10'>Disney
Sees Charge on Delta Bankruptcy
Walt Disney Co.
said that
it expects to take a charge of $68 million on its investment in Delta
Airlines
now that Delta has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection,
MarketWatch.com
reported Friday. In a regulatory filing, Disney said that it
determined that
its investment in Delta, which includes $100 million in airplane
leases, was
impaired as a result of Delta’s Sept. 14 bankruptcy filing.
Disney said earlier
this month that it still expects to post double-digit earnings growth
in fiscal
2005 compared to the previous year, but added that the projection
excluded any
possible write-off on the Delta leases.
id='11'>SGI
Lists Bankruptcy as Option
If such measures as
selling
the company fail, SGI will consider bankruptcy, the troubled computer
maker
said Thursday, according to the Chippewa Herald. The Mountain
View, Calif.-based
company’s manufacturing facilities and other offices are in
Chippewa Falls,
Wis. As of June 25, it had 2,655 employees worldwide. SGI said that
its alternatives
include finding an acquirer, finding someone to make a substantial
investment
in the company, selling off technologies and products or a combination
of the
choices.
href='http://www.chippewa.com/articles/2005/09/25/news/news2.txt'>Read
more.
Airlines
id='12'>NWA
Bankruptcy Forces Mesaba Cutbacks
The bankruptcy of
Northwest
Airlines is forcing its regional partner to shrink its operations, the
Associated
Press reported yesterday. Initial cutbacks for Mesaba Airlines will
include
the parking of nine regional jets that the airline uses to fly
Northwest passengers.
Mesaba’s corporate parent, MAIR Holdings, also says that
Northwest intends to
terminate the leases on all 35 of the 69-seat Avro jets that Mesaba
operates
for Northwest. The airline isn’t commenting on its fleet,
although sources tell
the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the airline is attempting to
negotiate
more favorable lease terms on the Avros. Shortly before Northwest
filed for
bankruptcy, it missed an $18 million payment to Mesaba for flight
operations.
Mesaba is scheduled to receive another payment today from
Northwest.
id='13'>Delta
Outlines Plans for Slimming Down
Delta Air Lines
Inc. unveiled
highlights of its turnaround plan Thursday, announcing its intention
to lay
off nearly one-fifth of its work force and cut its domestic operations
in hopes
of shrinking its way to profitability, The Deal reported today.
The Atlanta-based
carrier said that it aims to produce an annual $3 billion in cost cuts
and revenue
enhancements by the end of 2007. Delta has already secured about $5
billion
in savings from a company-wide overhaul undertaken last year without
assistance
from the courts. Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein said in a memo to
employees that
the company’s plan "has been designed to fortify Delta
against the clear
and present threats from our competitors," adding that the
company, which
has lost about $10 billion since 2001, hopes to turn a profit within
two years.
The airline also is in talks with its pilots, its only major unionized
work
force, in hopes of securing more than $300 million in wages and work
rule changes
from that group. Overall, the company hopes to extract nearly $1
billion in
savings from employees.
href='http://www.law.com/jsp/newswire_article.jsp?id=1127466310846'>Read
the full story.
id='14'>U.S.
to Sell US Airways, America West Loans
The U.S. government
wants
to significantly lower its financial exposure to commercial airlines
by selling
$1 billion in federally backed loans for US Airways and America West
Airlines,
the Treasury Department said on Friday, according to Reuters reports.
The Air
Transportation Stabilization Board said that it is working with a
financial
adviser to assess the remarketing of the two loan guarantees to
private investors,
officials said. US Airways and America West are merging and hope to
close the
deal worth more than $1.5 billion tomorrow. The merger is allowing US
Airways
to step out of chapter 11 after a yearlong restructuring, during which
it cut
more than $1 billion in annual costs, downsized operations, cut its
work force
and raised $565 million from private investors to fund the America
West transaction.
href='http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=220914%2B2…'>Read
more.
id='15'>Air
Canada Flying High
Having lightened
its debts,
cut labor costs and reworked its operations, Air Canada has been
flying high
in the year since it emerged from bankruptcy protection, the
Canadian Press
reported yesterday. The rising cost of jet fuel in an era of record
high crude
oil prices is an obvious worry, although so far surcharges, fare
increases and
strong travel demand have helped Air Canada weather the turbulence.
Air Canada
believes that it can offset about 40 percent of the impact of fuel
through surcharges
and other price increases that it charges for passengers and cargo,
president
Montie Brewer said last week. However, Brewer noted that surcharges
and fare
increases will have an affect on future bookings.
href='http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html…'>Read
more.
id='16'>Huffy
Plan Confirmed
The U.S. Bankruptcy
Court
confirmed Huffy’s reorganization plan and the company announced
its intention
to emerge from chapter 11 protection next month, BankruptcyData.com
reported
today. The plan provides for cancellation of company equity and the
company’s
emergence as a privately held entity. Huffy CEO John Muskovich
commented, "We
are very grateful for the support we have received throughout this
process from
our key suppliers and our employees."
id='17'>Reliance
Plan Filed
Reliance Group
Holdings’
official unsecured creditors committee filed its first amended
reorganization
plan and disclosure statement with the U. S. Bankruptcy Court,
BankruptcyData.com
reported today. Documents were also filed approving an order
establishing the
voting record date as Sept. 23, 2005, the voting deadline for voting
on the
plan as Oct. 28, 2005, and setting the hearing to confirm the plan as
Nov. 7,
2005.
id='18'>Metropolitan
Mortgage Plan Filed
Metropolitan
Mortgage &
Securities filed its third amended reorganization plan and disclosure
statement
with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, BankruptcyData.com reported today.
They were
filed jointly with the official unsecured creditors’ committees
of Metropolitan
Mortgage & Securities Co. and Summit Securities Inc.