Three banks that were forced to buy some of Jefferson County, Alabama's sewer bonds during the financial crisis want to push forward on an appeals-court dispute—a development that threatens the $1.9 billion sewer-debt deal that county officials are relying on to get the struggling municipality out of bankruptcy, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported today. Unable to reach their own debt-payback deal with the county, State Street Bank and Trust Co., Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of New York Mellon are encouraging a panel of appeals-court judges to keep a hearing date on the calendar next month. On July 24, county officials and other Wall Street firms behind the county's $3.1 billion sewer system are scheduled to argue how the county's sewer system should be managed during its bankruptcy case.
