As families of crash victims lined the back of the House hearing room, displaying photos of their lost loved ones, Mary T. Barra, the General Motors chief executive, told lawmakers that the company was considering paying damages to victims of accidents in the millions of cars recalled for defective ignition switches, the New York Times reported today. To help decide, General Motors hired Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer who handled payouts in the Sept. 11, 2001, victims fund and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, she told a House committee investigating the company’s failure to fix a faulty part that it knew about for more than a decade. It was the first time GM had acknowledged that it may pay damages in accident cases that occurred before the company filed for bankruptcy in 2009, even though — to the increasing outrage of victims’ families — the company is legally protected by agreements made in bankruptcy court. Since February, GM has recalled 2.6 million Cobalts and other small cars because flawed ignition switches could suddenly cut off engine power and deactivate air bags. The company has linked 13 deaths to the faulty switch.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/business/gm-chief-expresses-remorse-a…
For further analysis, make sure to attend the “Large Complex Trusts: A General Motors Case Study” panel at ABI’s Annual Spring Meeting. This panel will discuss the General Motors bankruptcy case with an in-depth discussion about the issuance of public units in a major bankruptcy. The session will also include the challenges addressed by the team and the value of a freely traded unit. For more information or to register, please click here: http://www.abiworld.org/ASM14/