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May 26, 2006
name='1'>Congress Aims to Finish Work on Pension Reform Next
Month
Lawmakers said that it
will be at least next month before Congress finishes legislation to
overhaul the traditional
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>corporate pension system, Reuters reported
yesterday. The
legislation aims to rewrite funding rules for thousands of
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>companies that sponsor pension plans for their workers. Much of
the focus of the talks by the congressional conference committee has
been on defining what plans are 'at risk' and therefore must add funds,
Congressional aides say. Lawmakers in the pension talks have been
discussing suspending the credit-rating requirement for the first five
years that the pension bill is implemented.
href='http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=governmentF…'>Read
more.
w:st='on'>
name='2'>U.S.
face='Times New Roman' size='3'> Trustee Objects to Silicon
Graphic's DIP Loan
The trustee in Silicon
Graphics Inc.’s case is asking a federal judge to deny final
approval of a requested $23 million debtor-in-possession (DIP)
loan, Portfolio
Media reported yesterday. The
trustee, Lisa L.
Lambert, has raised questions about a
provision of the DIP loan that allows the lenders to obtain a security
interest in avoidance actions. Because Silicon won an extension to file
a financial affairs statement, Lambert argued that creditors could not
determine the value of the actions. She also pointed to severance
payments Silicon made to terminated officers and said that she wanted to
ensure creditors still have a litigation option. If the provisions are
changed, she said she would drop the objection. SGI planned to gain a
$70 million DIP loan funded by noteholders Quadrangle Master Funding
Ltd., Watershed Technology Holdings LLC and Encore Fund LP. A final
hearing on the DIP loan is scheduled for Wednesday at the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Manhattan
size='3'>.
Yukos
Wins U.S. Judge's Approval for $1.4 Billion
w:st='on'>
Russian oil company OAO
Yukos got approval from a
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>bankruptcy judge to sell $1.4 billion worth of stock in a
Lithuanian refinery after the judge terminated a temporary restraining
order that blocked the sale,
size='3'>Portfolio Media reported today. If
the deal fell through,
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Lithuania
size='3'>might have nationalized the refinery, according to court
papers, a spokeswoman for Yukos said Thursday. Yukos will sell its 53.7
percent stake in AB Mazeikiu Nafta to PKN Orlen,
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Poland
size='3'>’s largest company. The rest of the shares in Mazeikiu
Nafta are owned by the Lithuanian government, which made a bid for
Yukos’ stake, but was turned down. The sale will be finalized
Friday in the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Netherlands
size='3'>. The proceeds will be subject to protections under Dutch law
because the actual seller of the shares, Yukos International UK B.V., is
technically a Dutch company. The case is
size='3'>In re Petition of Eduard K. Regbun, as Interim Receiver of
Yukos Oil Company, case number 06-B-10775, in
the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New
York.
name='4'>Interim Trustee Appointed for Region 13
size='3'>Nancy J. Gargula, U.S. Trustee
for Indiana and Southern and Central Illinois (Region 10), will also
serve as U.S. Trustee for Missouri, Nebraska and Arkansas (Region 13)
for an interim period, according to the U.S. Trustee Program on Tuesday.
She replaces U.S. Trustee
size='3'>Charles E. Rendlen
size='3'>III, who has been appointed to serve
as a bankruptcy judge for the Eastern District of Missouri. Since June
2002, Gargula has been the U.S. Trustee for Region 10 and previously was
a partner at Baker & Daniels in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Indianapolis
member of the firm’s Commercial, Financial and Bankruptcy Team.
Region 13 is headquartered in
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Kansas City
size='3'>, Mo., with additional offices in
Louis
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Omaha
size='3'>and
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Little Rock
size='3'>, Ark
href='http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/public_affairs/press/docs/pr20060523.htm'>Read
more.
name='5'>Ignorance Claim Did Not Sway Enron Jury
The jury in the Enron
case said that they simply could not believe that Kenneth L. Lay and
Jeffrey K. Skilling were telling the truth when they claimed they didn't
know about the fraudulent dealings that were taking place at Enron,
the New York
Times reported today.
face='Times New Roman'>The jurors said they found the
testimony by Lay and Skilling in their own defense both revealing and
damning. All of the Enron jurors, including the three alternates,
attended an hour-long session to address the
media on the verdict. They said that they respected Lay's charitable,
civic and political standing in Houston and Washington, but ultimately
concluded that he put his own financial welfare ahead of his duties to
shareholders and employees. As for Skilling, jurors said they found his
professed memory lapses and unfamiliarity with certain details
incredible for someone who prided himself on having command over every
area of Enron's operations.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/26/business/businessspecial3/26jury.html…'>Read
more.
Dana
Seeks Court Approval for Severance Payments
Dana Corp. is asking a
federal judge for permission to make nearly $6.4 million in severance
payments to some of its workers, the Associated Press reported today.
The employees in question work for divisions that the auto-parts
supplier plans to sell or close. Overall the company plans to end
operations at 44 locations worldwide, a move that will affect 9,800
workers. A hearing on the request hasn't been scheduled yet at the US
Bankruptcy court in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Manhattan
href='http://www.wtol.com/global/story.asp?s=4946731&ClientType=Printable'>Read
more.
name='7'>Bankruptcy Filings Drop 81 Percent in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Arizona
Personal-bankruptcy
filings in Tucson through April this year plummeted by 81 percent
compared with the same period last year, court statistics show,
the Arizona Daily
Star reported today. There were 376 filings
for chapter 7 in the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Tucson
U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the first four months of 2006. In the same
period last year, there were 1,999 filings. Officials attribute the
steep drop to the implementation of BAPCPA. There were 2,303 chapter 7
filings in
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Tucson
last October, when the new bankruptcy law took effect.
The following month, there were 24 filings.
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>
href='http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/allheadlines/130822.php'>Read
more.
name='8'>Bankruptcy Court Confirms
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Rhodes
size='3'>' Reorganization Plan
Liquidating furniture
retailer Rhodes Inc. has won bankruptcy court confirmation of its
chapter 11 reorganization plan, the Associated Press reported today.
Judge James E.
Massey of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
size='3'>Atlanta
on
size='3'>Rhodes
proceeds from the sale of its stores to creditors. Under the plan,
general unsecured creditors will recover about 15.8 percent on their
claims, which total about $83.5 million. Rhodes was a unit of
Heilig-Meyers until 1999, when it was sold to a group of
size='3'>Rhodes
filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2004.
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Rhodes
business after selling its 51 remaining retail stores to a joint venture
formed by Rooms To Go and Great American Group for $45.8 million in
August.
href='http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14667207.htm'>Read
more.
Ohio
Candle Company Files for Bankruptcy
Curb's Candle Co. LLC, a
Toledo, Ohio-based candle company, has filed for chapter 11 protection,
the Toledo
Blade reported today.
size='3'>In its filing this week, the company listed assets of less than
$50,000 and debts of more than $130,000, including $50,000 to National
City Bank and nearly $22,000 to Charter One Bank.
name='10'>Commentary: Fannie Mae Is the Next Large Corporate
Scandal
Some are calling
yesterday's Enron verdicts the end of the corporate scandal era, but the
one big case still pending is Fannie Mae, according to an editorial in
the Wall Street
Journal today. The mortgage giant's regulator
issued its long-awaited, 340-page report on the company's $10.8 billion
accounting woes this week, and the news is that mismanagement is even
worse than has been imagined. This is Washington, D.C.'s Enron, yet the
political class still hasn't fixed the core problem, which is Fannie's
political protection. This should worry us all, especially taxpayers who
will be on the hook if Fannie or its sibling Freddie Mac get into
trouble. For years Fannie boasted of steady profits and consistent
growth. But the report makes clear that Fannie Mae's officers made those
numbers up in order to pad their own compensation.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB114860591913063814.html'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
S
& P May Cut Ford's Debt Rating Again
Standard & Poor's
Ratings Services said on Thursday that it might cut Ford's debt rating
deeper into junk status, citing concerns that the company's turnaround
was falling short of expectations, the
size='3'>New York Times reported today. S
& P put Ford and its finance unit on CreditWatch with negative
implications, citing the 'deteriorating product mix and market share
in
size='3'>North America
persistently high commodity costs generally.' The company is five months
into a sweeping revamping effort called the Way Forward, which aims to
close 14 plants and cut as many as 30,000 jobs in
w:st='on'>North
America
an S & P credit analyst who follows the auto industry, said he was
particularly troubled by declining U.S. sales of Ford's full-size
pickups and midsize sport utility vehicles, which are traditionally its
biggest money-makers, as high gas prices cause consumers to seek
vehicles with better fuel economy.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/26/business/26ford.html?pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/26/business/26ford.html?pagewanted=print'>