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December 16, 2005
name='1'>House
Passes Bill to Strengthen Pensions
The House sought to reassure millions of baby boomers worried about
retirement
benefits, passing legislation yesterday that supporters said would
revitalize
employer-based pension plans, the Associated Press reported
yesterday. The
legislation, backed by an array of corporate groups and unions,
passed 294-132.
Ahead are negotiations, probably early next year, with the Senate,
which last
month passed a similar version. The goal is to give some peace of
mind to
the millions of people in traditional defined-benefit plans, which
give retirees
a fixed amount based on salary and years of service.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/15/AR2005121500175.html'>Read
more.
Meanwhile, in an unusual move to supplement the efforts of the GOP
leadership
team, House Education and the Workforce Chairman Boehner assembled
his own
unofficial whip team to build support for pension legislation the
House passed
yesterday, CongressDaily reported. Boehner relied on a
shadow whip
operation—made up of his congressional allies and industry
lobbyists
in favor of the bill—to confirm Republicans had the votes
needed to
pass the bill by a comfortable margin, according to lawmakers, aides
and lobbyists.
id='2'>Bankruptcy
Filings Set Record on Eve of New Law
Quarterly filings
for the
three-month period from July 1, 2005, to September 30, 2005, set a
single-quarter
filings record, increasing by 36.7 percent when compared to the same
period
in 2004, according to data from the Administrative Office of the U.S.
Courts.
This quarter immediately precedes the new Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention
and Consumer
Protection Act (BAPCPA), which was enacted on April 20 and took effect
on Oct.
17. The record pace continued into October, when more than 600,000 new
bankruptcies
were filed nationwide, compared to just 130,679 in October 2004.
href='/am/Template.cfm?Section=Press_Releases1&ContentID=39570&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm'>Read
the ABI Press Release here.
id='3'>Judge:
Aloha Airlines Can Unload Pensions
Aloha
Airlines’ can terminate
its worker pension plans, the Associated Press reported today. That
ruling came from
a federal judge in Honolulu, who says Aloha showed it cannot not
survive outside
bankruptcy unless it abandons its obligations to its defined-benefit
pension
plans. The finding rejected an appeal by the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation,
which will be responsible for Aloha’s pension obligations when
the company drops
them.
href='http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?Feed=AP&Date=20051216&ID=5314612'>Read
more.
id='4'>Stuart
Maue Appointed Fee Auditor for Winn-Dixie Bankruptcy
Stuart Maue
announced today
in a press release that it has been appointed as fee examiner in the
Winn-Dixie
Bankruptcy in the Middle District of Florida. Stuart Maue will provide
the court
with detailed exhibits for all case professionals in the Winn-Dixie
bankruptcy
and for those aspects of the fee application that are deserving of
emphasis.
The exhibits, which will display individual billing entries, can
highlight those
billing entries not in compliance with court-established guidelines
and other
billing deserving of further review prior to any final payment
decision.
href='http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=7026'>Read
more.
id='5'>Enron
Prosecutors Seek Gag Order After Speech
Federal prosecutors
have
asked a judge to impose a gag order that would prohibit them and
former Enron
Corp. leaders Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling from speaking
outside the
courtroom in advance of their January fraud trial, the Washington
Post
reported today. The move came two days after Lay, 63, gave a speech
blasting
government tactics a few weeks before jury selection is to begin. He
also denounced
former chief financial officer Andrew S. Fastow, a key witness against
him,
as "despicable and criminal" in remarks to a sold-out crowd
of more
than 500 Houston area residents Dec. 13. Defense lawyers had
previously opposed
the idea of restricting their clients’ public remarks. Michael
Ramsey, a lawyer
for Lay, said, "We don’t think a gag order is either
appropriate or necessary."
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/15/AR2005121502032.html'>Read
more.
id='6'>GM
Has Offers for Stake in Finance Unit, Wagoner Says
href='http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a2etS3d_c0B8&refer=us'>General
Motors Corp. CEO Rick Wagoner said that there’s been
“ample interest”
in his finance unit and he is confident the automaker can find a
buyer
after some of the nation’s biggest banks declined to bid,
Bloomberg News reported
today. GM has had offers “in the context of the process that
we’re following,”
Wagoner told reporters at a GM holiday reception late yesterday in
Sterling
Heights, Michigan. “That process is moving along according to
the predetermined
scale, and so far I would say there is ample interest.”
href='http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/15/news/fortune500/gm_workers.reut/index.htm'>GM
is suspending contributions to its 401(k) retirement savings plan
for salaried
workers, Reuters reported yesterday. The world’s largest
automaker was
also dropping the requirement that up to three percent of
worker’s contributions
and 100 percent of the automaker’s contribution be invested in
GM shares.
This was done to give employees more flexibility to choose their
stocks and
mutual funds, Herta said, adding that the changes take effect Jan.
1.
id='7'>Lobbyist’s
Ex-partner Pleads Guilty in Casino Investigation
A former business
partner
of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty yesterday to fraud
and conspiracy
in the ill-fated 2000 purchase of a fleet of gambling boats, the
Associated
Press reported yesterday. Adam Kidan’s plea bargain is likely to
require that
he cooperate in the case against Abramoff involving the SunCruz
Casinos deal
and perhaps even testify against his old partner. Kidan pleaded guilty
to conspiracy
and fraud; two other felony counts were dropped. He could get up to 10
years
in federal prison at his March 1 sentencing. SunCruz, which operates
gambling
"cruises to nowhere" off Florida, fell into bankruptcy after
Boulis
was killed and has since emerged under new management.
href='http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/15/lobbyist.case.ap/index.html'>Read
more.
id='8'>Legal
Battle Cost Chamber Players Their Instruments
What would be a
wrenching
moment for any musician has arrived for two members of the Audubon
Quartet:
the loss of their instruments, casualties of a bitter legal feud with
the member
they cast out five years ago, the New York Times reported
yesterday.
A federal bankruptcy court judge in Roanoke, Va., on Wednesday ruled
that the
instruments be surrendered, a trustee prepared an order for their
seizure. Mr.
Shaw and his wife, Doris Lederer, the quartet’s violist, will
have until 4 p.m.
on Dec. 23 to hand over their instruments, said the trustee, George A.
McLean
Jr. McLean was appointed to liquidate the couple’s holdings.
They declared bankruptcy
after losing a $611,000 judgment in a lawsuit brought by the
quartet’s first
violinist, David Ehrlich, over his ouster in February 2000 after years
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/15/arts/music/15audu.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1134737807-2pUHxFgJdAB3Ljuuv%2Bq1Ew'>Read
more.
id='9'>McLeod
Plan Confirmed
A court confirmed
McLeodUSA’s
pre-negotiated reorganization plan, BankruptcyData.com reported today.
The related
disclosure statement was approved at the same joint hearing. The
Company has
announced intentions to emerge from chapter 11 protection in January
2006. Under
the terms of the company’s pre-negotiated plan, McLeod’s
$677 million of secured
junior debt will be converted into 100 percent of the company’s
equity, and
the company’s existing $100 million in secured senior debt will
be cancelled
and replaced with a $100 million term facility. The plan also provides
for all
of the company’s existing preferred and common stock to be
cancelled. This is
the company’s second chapter 11 filing.
id='10'>Refco
Protocol Approval Sought
The provisional
liquidators
of Refco Capital Markets and Refco Global Finance (both of which are
in provisional
liquidation) filed a motion seeking U.S. bankruptcy court approval of
protocol
for compensation and reimbursement of expenses, BankruptcyData.com
reported
today. The court scheduled a Jan. 10, 2006 hearing to consider the
motion.
id='11'>Levitz
Home Furnishings to Shut 35 Stores
Levitz Home
Furnishings Inc.,
which filed for bankruptcy in October, is closing 35 stores, according
to documents
filed with a New York bankruptcy court, the Associated Press reported
yesterday.
The 35 stores to close their doors are located in Connecticut,
Pennsylvania,
New York, New Jersey, California, Minnesota, Arizona and Delaware. The
Woodbury,
N.Y.-based furniture chain has a total of about 100 stores. Court
documents
did not reveal how many employees will be affected by the closings.
But employees
let go after the start of the company’s liquidation sale but
prior to Jan. 31
will receive wages they would have earned if their employment was not
terminated
until Jan. 31, according to court documents.
id='12'>ATA
Holdings Expansion Agreement Announced
ATA Holdings
announced that
it will expand code sharing with Southwest Airlines between Dallas/Ft.
Worth
(DFW) and cities in the Southwest system that connect via
Chicago’s Midway Airport
(MDW), BankruptcyData.com reported today. ATA expects to begin
offering the
new connecting flights for sale in early January, for flights
beginning Jan.
11, 2006. ATA entered into its code share agreement with Southwest
Airlines
in February of 2005. With this expansion, customers will enjoy
low-fare service
to Dallas/Ft. Worth for connecting code share flights from many
destinations
such as: Albany, Baltimore/Washington, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus,
Detroit,
Hartford/Springfield, Indianapolis, Long Island/Islip, Louisville,
Manchester,
Norfolk, Omaha, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, and
Raleigh/Durham.
International
id='13'>Brazil’s
Varig Files to Quit Bankruptcy Protection
Varig, the
debt-ridden Brazilian
airline, has asked a court to allow it to quit bankruptcy protection
proceedings,
saying they have hampered its ability come up with a rescue plan,
Reuters reported
yesterday. The request was filed one day after a court in Rio de
Janeiro temporarily
blocked a deal that would give a Brazilian investment group called
Docas Investimentos
control of the holding company that runs Varig. Varig said it would
contact
all of its creditors within 30 days to notify them of its plans.
href='http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=240480%2B15-Dec-2005%2BRTRS&srch=bankruptcy'>Read
more.
id='14'>Record
20,000 Set to Go Bankrupt in U.K.
A record number of
people
will go bust in the New Year because of excessive Christmas spending,
the U.K.’s
Evening Standard reported today. Accountants Grant Thornton
predict
the first quarter of 2006 will see nearly 20,000 personal
insolvencies—the
highest number since records began in 1960. Latest official figures
showed more
than 12,000 people went bust in the third quarter, a 30 percent
increase on
a year ago, and a further 5500 entered into individual voluntary
arrangements.
Mike Gerrard, head of Grant Thornton’s personal insolvency
practice, said “Many
people will be funding their Christmas shopping sprees on their credit
cards.
Overspending will not break the bank for most, but for those who are
already
financially overstretched, spending that little bit more during the
festivities
may represent the straw that breaks the camel’s back, plunging
them further
into debt and quite possibly towards bankruptcy.”
href='http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/credit-and-loans/debt-news/article.html?in_article_id=405779&in_page_id=62'>Read
more.
id='15'>Australia’s
James Hardie Continues Talks on Tax Break
James Hardie
Industries NV
said that it is continuing discussions with federal treasury after the
Australian
Tax Office (ATO) ruled it is not entitled to tax deductions for its
proposed
asbestos compensation plan, AFX News reported yesterday. The building
products
group said that it had received a ruling from the ATO that
contributions will
not be tax deductible under current federal tax laws, casting more
uncertainty
about it finalizing its claim obligations. James Hardie shares fell as
low as
7.79 aud following the morning announcement but recovered in afternoon
href='http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2005/12/15/afx2396628.html'>Read
more.