February 9, 2000
Senate Pauses Before Naming Conferees on Legislation
The next step for S. 625/H.R. 833 is a House-Senate conference committee
to reconcile the differences in the bills. The Senate leadership has not
yet named its conferees. The Senate may need to first strip out certain
tax provisions, included in connection with the minimum wage increase.
By law, tax provisions must originate in the House, and the Chairman of
the House Ways and Means Committee has reportedly objected to the
Senate's provisions. The Senate leadership also has to deal with whether
members of the Senate Banking Committee (such as Sen. Phil Gramm, R-TX
and Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-MD) will be included in the conference to
consider the amendments made by S. 625 to the Truth in Lending Act.
Otherwise, the likely conferees will be limited to the respective
Judiciary Committees. It is expected that the chairs and ranking members
of both full committees will be named, along with leaders from the
bankruptcy law subcommittees.
Opponents of the Senate bill may also attempt to file a 'motion to
instruct' its conferees at the time the members are named. This
procedure seeks to assure that Senate conferees 'insist' on maintaining
the Senate's position in the conference on certain provisions.
Negotiations over such a procedure may also take several days, as the
Republican leadership will seek to resist such efforts.
The Washington Post reported today that House Majority Leader
Richard K. Armey (R-TX) said that leaders may agree to accept a minimum
wage increase when negotiating the bankruptcy bill and that House
Republicans are considering using parliamentary procedures to increase
the minimum wage without holding an up-or-down vote on the issue. Armey
said, 'The leadership has been trying to put [the wage issue] on the
floor for the last year, and the fact of the matter is we have not been
able to get to a configuration that would command the votes.' President
Clinton has said he would veto any wage increase that was spread out
over more than two years; the Senate's provision calls for a three-year
plan.
The full text of S. 625 as passed is available via a link in 'What's
New' at http://www.abiworld.org. The link goes directly
to the 'table of contents' of the passed bill. When searching for
specific information, hit the 'control' and 'F' keys simultaneously and
type in the text you area searching for.
Consumer bankruptcy comparisons and consumer credit comparisons are
also online at
href='/legis/bills/s625/conbank1.html'>http://www.abiworld.org/legis/bills/s625/conbank1.html
and
href='/legis/bills/s625/concredit2.html'>http://www.abiworld.org/legis/bills/s625/concredit2.html.
The analyses were prepared by Henry Sommer (Philadelphia) and Gary
Klein (National Consumer Law Center, Boston).
Chronicle Communications Announces Subsidiary's Conversion to
Chapter 7
Chronicle Communications Inc. announced that Bright Now Inc., its
subsidiary, has converted its chapter 11 to a chapter 7 liquidation
proceeding and that the subsidiary's printing business was terminated,
according to a newswire report. Substantially all of the debt on
Chronicle's consolidated balance sheet at 1999 year-end and the first
quarter of 2000 is from the subsidiary. Chronicle intends to divest
itself of Bright Now to remove its debts of about $1.63 million from the
balance sheet.
Court Accepts Metso's Offer for Beloit's Assets
Valmet, the fiber and paper technology business area of Metso Corp., had
bid to purchase certain assets from Harnischfeger Industries' Beloit
paper machine manufacturing, and Metso announced yesterday that the
bankruptcy court has approved the bid, according to a newswire report.
The decision will be final after 11 days, assuming no appeal is filed.
The offer includes Beloit's roll cover division, paper machine
aftermarket business assets and the related paper machine technology.
The purchase price was $160 million. Harnischfeger's creditors'
committee approved the sale in January.
Nike Anticipates Disappointing Earnings Because of Retailers'
Bankruptcies
Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike Inc. saw its shares drop 19 percent yesterday
after the company warned that its results would not meet Wall Street
estimates because of the financial problems of some of the industry's
leading retailers, according to Reuters. Nike forecast at least a 20
percent rise in earnings per share for the 12 months ending May 31, but
profits could fall below the current First Call/Thomsen Financial
consensus estimate of $2.08 a share, since Venator Group Inc.'s Foot
Locker and Just For Feet are both closing unprofitable stores while
operating under chapter 11 protection. Prior to cutting its orders to
Just for Feet, the retailer was ordering $70 to $80 million of
merchandise from Nike.
Liquidation World Announces Alliance with iSolve.com
Liquidation World Inc. announced that it has entered into a strategic
alliance with iSolve.com, a new business-to-business Internet
marketplace provider of surplus and like-new inventory, underutilized
assets and excess manufacturing and service capacity, according to a
newswire report. Calgary-based Liquidation World said the alliance
provides it with greater exposure to the U.S. marketplace and provides
iSolve's online sellers with a secure distribution channel that protects
their existing distribution networks in the United States. Under the
terms of the agreement, Liquidation World will support iSolve's
end-to-end online transaction services by providing reverse logistics to
buyers and sellers on the iSolve.com site. Liquidation World will
provide iSolve's customers with extensive experience in re-marketing new
and link inventories acquired through bankruptcies, receiverships,
close-outs, manufacturers' overruns and buy-backs.
Oklahoma Couple Sentence for Bankruptcy Fraud
Daniel G. Webber Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Western District of
Oklahoma, announced last week that John Quincy Adams and Mary Ann Adams
of Medford, Okla., were each sentenced to 21 months in federal prison
for seeking to defraud the Bank of Kremlin, Okla., and filing false
statements in connection with a bankruptcy proceeding. They were also
sentenced to a three-year period of supervision following release from
confinement, 104 hours of community service and were ordered to make
restitution to the bank in the amount of $159,769. The defendants owned
and managed Adams Equipment Co., a farm implement dealership. They were
charged with defrauding the bank by concealing assets that had been
pledged to the bank and by failing to disclose the existence of those
assets when they filed for chapter 11 protection in 1996. In September,
they both pleaded guilty to the bank fraud charges. The case was
investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance
of, and following referral by, the Office of the U.S. Bankruptcy
Trustee.
Two Bankruptcy Judgeships Available in Eastern District of
California
The U.S. Courts for the Ninth Circuit is recruiting for two positions on
the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California. Chambers
for the new judges will be in Fresno and Modesto, Calif. Completed
applications must be received by March 31. Visit ABI's bankruptcy court
employment area for details at
href='/employment/listings.html'>http://www.abiworld.org/employment/listings.html.
Singer Seeks Court OK to License Trademark to Sears
Singer Co. (SEW) is seeking court approval to enter into a trademark
license agreement with Sears Roebuck and Co. Under the agreement, Sears
would be permitted to use the Singer trademark on products manufactured
by Sears or on its behalf. Sears, which would receive an exclusive
license to use the trademark on two sewing machine models in the U.S.
and Canada, 'has agreed that the quality of any products bearing the
trademark that are manufactured by Sears or on Sears' behalf must be as
high as or higher than the quality of products manufactured by the
debtors.'
Courtesy of
href='http://www.fedfil.com/bankruptcy/developments.htm'>The
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February 9, 2000.
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