September 222003

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September 22, 2003

Senate to Mark Up FCRA Tomorrow

The Senate Banking Committee has scheduled a markup on Tuesday of
legislation to update the 33-year-old Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA),
CongressDaily reported. Senate Banking Chairman Richard Shelby's
(R-Ala.) draft legislation includes new provisions to combat identity
theft, improve consumers' access to credit information, enhance the
accuracy of consumers' credit information and limit the sharing of
medical information. The bill also would give consumers greater access
to their credit report information and the ability to 'opt out' of
receiving certain commercial solicitations. But unlike the House-passed
version of the legislation, Shelby's draft does not include a permanent
extension of expiring FCRA provisions that pre-empt state consumer
protection laws, reported the newswire.

UAL Gets Until March To File Bankruptcy Plan

A federal judge on Friday granted United Airlines parent UAL Corp.
another five months to submit a plan to get out of bankruptcy, the
Associated Press reported. The extension was the second granted by U.S.
Bankruptcy Judge Eugene Wedoff for UAL, which still faces
numerous challenges before it can emerge from chapter 11 as targeted by
mid-2004. CFO Jake Brace said the carrier needs to sort out several
issues before it files a restructuring plan, including ensuring it can
make billions of dollars in required pension payments over the next five
years. United plans to reapply for a $1.8 billion federal-loan guarantee
as part of its financial overhaul. The government rejected its first bid
last December, citing a flawed business plan, reported the newswire.

ENRON

Merrill Lynch Reaches Deal With U.S. in Enron Affair

Merrill Lynch & Company, in an agreement with prosecutors that let
it avoid criminal charges over its role in the Enron debacle, promised
on Wednesday not to engage in business deals - even ones that appear
legal - that it believes might be used to mislead investors about a
company's financial condition, the New York Times reported. The
Wall Street firm also agreed to allow the government to monitor portions
of its business for the next 18 months.

The settlement involved deals late in 1999 that let Enron increase its
reported profits when its business was falling short of Wall Street's
expectations. Merrill Lynch acknowledged that the government had
obtained evidence that some of its employees might have committed crimes
in the transactions, and it accepted responsibility for those employees'
actions, the Times reported. Three former senior executives were
charged in connection with their roles in one deal, reported the
newspaper.

Enron Updates Creditors on Recovery

Enron Corp. on Thursday said it filed an amended joint chapter 11 plan
and disclosure plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, updating the
estimated recoveries for more than 350 classes of creditors holding
unsecured debt, Reuters reported. Houston-based Enron, which filed for
bankruptcy protection in December 2001, now estimates Enron Corp. debt
holders will recover 16.6 cents on the dollar, Enron North America debt
holders will recover 19.5 percent and Enron Power Marketing Inc.
creditors will see net recovery of 22.5 percent. Enron also made
financial projections for the three businesses slated to be separated
and emerge from the bankruptcy proceedings: CrossCountry Energy, Prisma
Energy International and Oregon utility Portland General Electric. The
Manhattan bankruptcy court is expected to hold a hearing on the
disclosure statement in late October, Enron said, reported the
newswire.

NewPower to Pay $26 Million to Settle Securities-fraud
Claims

NewPower Holdings Inc., a bankrupt spin-off of Enron Corp. that sold
electricity to retail customers, will pay $26 million to settle
securities-fraud claims over its initial stock offering, company
officials said, Bloomberg News reported. New Canaan, Conn.-based
NewPower said insurance would cover $24.5 million of the settlement,
which resolves at least a half-dozen lawsuits alleging energy company
officials misled investors about its dealings with Enron as part of its
initial public stock offering in November 2000, reported the
newswire.

PG&E Reaffirms 2003-04 Outlook

PG&E Corp., the parent of bankrupt utility Pacific Gas and Electric,
on Wednesday said it affirmed its 2003 and 2004 earnings forecasts and
that it aims to resume paying dividends in the second half of 2005,
Reuters reported. PG&E last month said it expects to report
operating earnings per share of $1.90 to $2.00 for 2003 and $2.00 to
$2.10 for 2004.

The earnings guidance did not include the Bethesda, Md.-based National
Energy Group, PG&E's merchant energy trading and power generation
business, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year.
PG&E Chairman, Chief Executive and President Robert Glynn Jr. told
investors at the Merrill Lynch 2003 Power & Gas Leaders Conference
in New York that he expects the Pacific Gas and Electric subsidiary to
exit from chapter 11 bankruptcy by the end of the first quarter in 2004,
reported the newswire.

Alstom Future Hinges on 11th Hour Rescue Attempt

French engineering firm Alstom starts a five-day battle on Thursday to
stave off collapse via a state bailout without breaking strict European
rules on fair competition, Reuters reported. The European Commission on
Wednesday blocked a state-backed rescue plan for the maker of ultra-fast
TGV trains, gas turbines and cruise ships, but has given Paris five days
to come up with a solution that would meet state aid rules before its
order to suspend aid is enforced.

Sources close to the government have said France is doubtful about its
chances of brokering a plan acceptable to both the Commission and
Alstom's 30 banks before the deadline and have gone as far as hinting of
bankruptcy. The board will meet again on or before the Sept. 22 deadline
to decide whether the company has a viable future, reported the
newswire.

Bank One Discloses Details of Polaroid Purchase, New
Management

Bank One Corp.'s One Equity Partners LLC used $136.8 million of Polaroid
Corp.'s own cash when it purchased the instant-photography company out
of bankruptcy for

about $238 million last year, according to recent court filings,
Bloomberg News reported. Polaroid's assets were worth $122.6 million
more than what the New York-based venture-capital firm paid, the
documents also show. Polaroid filed for bankruptcy in October 2001 after
debts mounted and the popularity of digital cameras had eroded
sales.

The documents, released last week in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
Delaware, include specific details of Polaroid's finances, revamped
management team and corporate structure since being bought in July 2002.
Shareholders had filed lawsuits questioning the accuracy of Polaroid's
financial statements, leading the court to appoint an independent
examiner, reported the newswire.

Mirant Investor Panel Named by U.S. Trustee in Bankruptcy
Case

Mirant Corp. shareholders have gained a powerful voice in the energy
producer's bankruptcy reorganization, as a Justice Department lawyer
charged with overseeing the case named a committee to represent them,
Bloomberg News reported. The nine-member shareholder panel includes five
individual investors and four investment companies, including
multimillionaire Randall D. Smith's Smith Management LLC. Other
companies named to the committee by Assistant U.S. Trustee George
McElreath in Dallas are Aria Partners, Tejas Securities Group and
Phaeton International/Phoenix Partners, reported the newsire.

WorldCom to Pay Intermedia Preferred Shareholders $29
Million

WorldCom Inc. will give $29 million to a group of its preferred
stockholders that challenged the reorganization plan, Bloomberg News
reported. WorldCom agreed on Tuesday to give owners of preferred stock
in its Intermedia Communications unit 5 cents on the dollar, the company
said in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the

Southern District of New York. Investors in the unit, a local telephone
company WorldCom bought in 2001, were to get nothing.

The accord brings Ashburn, Va.-based WorldCom closer to its goal of
exiting bankruptcy this year. The company would be owned by creditors
that were owed $41 billion before WorldCom sought creditor protection in
July 2002. WorldCom last week agreed to pay $375 million more to two
other groups of creditors opposing

the restructuring, reported the newswire.

ST Telemedia Gets White House Go-Ahead to Buy Global
Crossing

Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte, a government-owned investor in
phone companies, got a green light from U.S. President George Bush to
buy a 61.5 percent stake in bankrupt fiber optic network operator Global
Crossing Ltd., Bloomberg News reported. President Bush will 'take no
action to suspend or prohibit the proposed'' investment, according to a
statement issued by the White House to reporters.

Air Canada Renegotiates Leases on 38 More of Its Airplanes

Air Canada said it renegotiated leases on 38 aircraft with plane owners
from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, as it seeks to cut costs
while restructuring under protection from creditors, Bloomberg News
reported. The deals bring to 170 the number of aircraft leases that the
Montreal-based airline and its short-haul Jazz unit have reworked,
spokeswoman Renee Smith-Valade said. The leases cover 22 Airbus A319s,
eight Airbus A330s and eight Airbus A340s, the company said in a
statement.

Air Canada is moving ahead on a claims process and with this 'latest
agreement we can now make clearer decisions on what leases are to be
repudiated to complete the process,'' Calin Rovinescu, who is heading
the airline's restructuring, said in the statement. The company plans to
exit bankruptcy protection by the end of the year, reported the
newswire.

Rohn Industries Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Frankfort, Ill.-based Rohn Industries filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on
Tuesday, according to a company press release. 'The objective of the
chapter 11 proceeding is to maximize recovery to creditors by
facilitating an orderly sale of assets,' the company said in the press
release. 'The company is currently in discussions with an unrelated
third party regarding a proposed sale of the assets of the company.' In
December 2002, Rohn transferred its production facilities from Peoria,
Ill., to Frankfort following the abrupt termination of a sale of Rohn's
assets to a California company, Platinum. Rohn specializes in
manufacturing equipment for the wireless industry, which includes
towers, poles, and antenna mounts for cell phones, television and
radio.

As part of the chapter 11 filing, Rohn has requested entering into a
$9.5 million debtor-in possession line of credit with some of its
creditors, as stated in the press release. Should bankruptcy be
approved, Rohn will retain possession of its assets and will continue
operating.

Independence Apparel Company Files for Bankruptcy

An Independence apparel company whose divisions once employed 4,000
people has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy because of declining sales
and massive debt, according to the Kansas City Star. American
Marketing Industries Inc. (AMI) reported assets of $17 million and
liabilities of $146 million, according to documents filed on Wednesday
in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Kansas City. The company said most of
its liabilities consisted of secured loans from a group of lenders, the
online newspaper reported. AMI was formed in 1987 to purchase various
apparel businesses operating under the umbrella of Apparel Marketing
Industries. The businesses, including Swingster, Dunbrooke, Allison and
Velva Sheen, made and sold activewear, outerwear, children's sleepwear
and specialty items. At its peak in 1998, AMI had 4,000 employees and
$277 million in annual sales, according to bankruptcy records, the
Star reported.

Trenwick Group Wins Court Approval To Pay Executives,
Firms

Trenwick Group Ltd. on Wednesday won approval from the bank overseeing
its chapter 11 case for a series of motions connected to the payment of
executives, accountants and consultants working on the sale and
wind-down of some of its insurance operations.

In filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission just before
Trenwick Group and two associated entities filed for chapter 11
protection, the insurance holding company said it was selling some
U.K.-based operations, and gradually shutting down others. Among motions
approved on Wednesday was one that allows Trenwick to pay Acting Chief
Executive Officer and Chairman W. Marston Becker $83,000 per month in
salary. Becker is also in line to collect the last of three installments
of an $800,000 bonus in February 2004 or when a plan of reorganization
is confirmed.

Court OKs Acterna's Sale Of Itronix To Golden Gate Capital

Acterna Corp. finally received bankruptcy approval to sell its
Itronix Corp. unit for $400 million to the private equity firm Golden
Gate Capital. The approval came three days after a formal bidding
process closed with no competing bidders stepping up to the plate,
Itronix's Chief Executive and President Tom Turner told Dow Jones
Newswires. A 'number of interested parties' did due diligence, but none
of them offered a formal bid, he added. Competing bids for Itronix,
which makes laptops and handheld computing devices, needed to meet or
exceed $42.1 million and be submitted by Monday morning.

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