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April 11, 2005
House to Consider Bankruptcy Bill on Thursday
The House expects to begin debate Thursday on the Senate-passed
bankruptcy bill, CongressDaily reported. Despite strong
opposition from many Democrats, the House is expected to approve the
bill by a wide margin, clearing the way for the president’s
signature. The House had planned to take up the legislation last week,
but postponed deliberations to accommodate the congressional delegation
attending the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
House Judiciary Democrats’ Dissent from Bankruptcy Bill
Rawstory.com has published the Democratic House
Judiciary Staff’s dissenting views on the bankruptcy bill. Read
the full review at
href='http://rawstory.com/exclusives/dissenting_views_bankruptcy_405.htm'>rawstory.com/exclusives/dissenting_views_bankruptcy_405.htm.
Separately, a
Latimes.com article reports that the bankruptcy bill needs
reforming. Read the full article at
href='http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-flan10apr10,1,6331642.column?coll…'>http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-flan10apr10,1,6331642.column?coll….
Senate Committee to Hold Hearing on Consumer Privacy Issues
The Senate Judiciary Committee plans to hear testimony on Wednesday
on consumer privacy and identity theft issues,
CongressDaily reported. The panel is expected to discuss
legislation by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D–Calif.) requiring data
collectors to notify consumers of security breaches that might place
personal information at risk.
Disparities Found in Sub-Prime Lending
About 29 percent of African Americans who bought or refinanced homes
last year ended up with high-cost loans, compared with only about 10
percent of white Americans, according to an a consumer advocacy
group’s analysis of new data from 15 large national lenders, the
Washington Post reported. About 15 percent of Hispanics
received such loans offered to borrowers with damaged credit, known as
sub-prime loans, according to the analysis conducted by the National
Community Reinvestment Coalition, which represents 640 nonprofit
organizations, the newspaper reported.
UAL Asks for Time for Reorganization Plan
UAL Corp., parent of bankrupt United Airlines, has asked a federal
bankruptcy court for another two months to file its bankruptcy
reorganization plan without interference from other parties, Reuters
reported. In documents filed with the court on Friday UAL asked for an
extension of the so-called exclusivity period through July 1. The
current exclusivity period is due to expire April 30.
Separately, the Wall Street Journal reported that the
Association of Flight Attendants said it notified UAL Corp.’s
United Airlines on Friday that it will end its current cost-saving labor
contract in 20 days if company executives can’t demonstrate that
wage cuts imposed on nonunion salaried and management workers were as
advertised.
How Gambling Can Affect Family Finances
A study on gambling, released this week, has found that when a casino
comes to town, personal bankruptcies decrease slightly, but only in the
short term, The Christian Science Monitorreported. After
it’s been up and operating for nine years, then personal
bankruptcies increase at a rate of 2 percentage points each year,
compared with counties where there is no gambling. Read the article at
href='http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0408/p02s01-ussc.html?s=hns'>www.csmonitor.com/2005/0408/p02s01-ussc.html?s=hns.
Business Group Seeks Probe of Asbestos Claims
The head of the largest U.S. business association has asked the
Justice Department to investigate “compelling evidence of
fraud” in asbestos injury claims filed across the country, the
group said on Friday, Reuters reported. The request from Tom Donohue,
president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, marked a new business
offensive against hundreds of thousands of asbestos suits that have
pushed dozens of companies into bankruptcy, the newswire reported.
Judge Set to Approve $460 Million to Enron Shareholders
A federal judge is expected to give final approval on Monday to three
settlements that would pay a total of $460 million to Enron Corp.
shareholders under lawsuits lodged after the energy giant collapsed in
December 2001, a lawyer in the case said on Friday, Reuters reported.
Under the terms of the previously announced settlements, Lehman Bros.
pay $222.5 million, Bank of America will pay $69 million and some of
Enron’s former directors will pay $168 million to settle claims
related to the underwriting of the Enron securities.
Enron to Keep Oregon Utility
Enron Corp. intends to return its Northwestern utility to its
pre-Enron form as an independent, investor-owned business in light of
Oregon regulators’ decision to block its sale to a Texas private
investment firm, theWorldlink.com reported. Enron said it had abandoned
the deal to sell Portland General Electric to a holding company backed
by Texas Pacific Group given its failure to pass muster with Oregon
regulators last month.
Bankruptcy Court Confirms Plan of Reorganization of Dynacq
Healthcare, Inc. Subsidiary
Dynacq Healthcare Inc. announced in a press release that the United
States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on April 7,
2005, confirmed the plan of reorganization of Vista Hospital of Baton
Rouge, LLC (‘VHBR’), an indirect majority-owned subsidiary
of Dynacq. VHBR had filed a voluntary petition under chapter 11 of the
United States Bankruptcy Code on October 8, 2004. The plan of
reorganization provides that VHBR will pay all of its creditors in
full.
Filing for Bankruptcy Can Be an Expensive Proposition
A Crain Detroit Business article focuses on the cost
associated with reorganizing in chapter 11 bankruptcy. Read the full
article at
href='http://www.crainsdetroit.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?postDate=2005-04-04&newsId…'>www.crainsdetroit.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?postDate=2005-04-04&newsId=5738.
Verizon Buys 13.7 Percent Stake in MCI
Verizon Communications Inc. said on Saturday it agreed to buy the
13.7 percent stake in MCI Inc. held by its largest shareholder, Mexican
telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim Helu, for $1.1 billion in cash,
Reuters reported. The move recasts the two-month battle for control of
MCI, which had accepted Verizon’s $7.6 billion takeover offer over
a $9.1 billion bid by Qwest Communications International Inc. The
Verizon deal with Slim offers a higher price for his MCI shares than
other shareholders would get under Verizon’s offer. Investors have
kept MCI shares trading higher than Verizon’s asking price in
recent days on expectations that Verizon would have to raise its price
or Qwest might launch a hostile bid, the newswire reported.
Cablevision Explores Raising Its $16.5 Billion Bid for Adelphia
Cablevision Systems Corp will decide sometime this week whether to
raise its $16.5 billion bid for Adelphia, the Wall Street
Journal reported. Cablevision was an 11th-hour entrant in auction
for Adelphia and still is considered a long shot because Adelphia agreed
last week to an alternative roughly $18 billion deal with Time Warner
Inc. and Comcast Corp.
name='14'>
Diego
Bankruptcy
Bad pension moves and
accounting irregularities have created problems for
Union Tribune reported. The article examines whether the
second-largest city is on the brink of bankruptcy. Read the full article
at
href='http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050410-9999-1n10bank.html'>http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050410-9999-1n10bank.html.