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August 12, 2008
Survey: Banks Broadly Tighten Lending
Standards in July
A Federal Reserve survey released yesterday showed that banks in the
United States have further tightened lending standards in all major
categories, especially for consumer loans, in the past three months amid
a weakening economic outlook, Reuters reported yesterday. The July
survey of senior loan officers at 52 domestic banks and 21 branches and
agencies of foreign banks also showed that demand for loans by both
businesses and households had weakened since the last survey in April.
The survey found that 65 percent of U.S. domestic banks tightened
standards on credit cards and other consumer loans, considerably higher
than the 30 percent that tightened card standards in the previous
survey. On commercial and industrial loans, 60 percent of domestic banks
reported tightening credit standards and 80 percent of banks noted they
had increased the spreads of loan rates over their cost of funds on
loans to large- and middle-market firms.
href='http://www.reuters.com/article/bankingFinancial/idUSN1138316520080811'>Read
more.
Morgan Stanley Offers to Buy Back $4.5
Billion in Securities
Morgan Stanley yesterday offered to buy back about $4.5 billion in
auction-rate securities from retail clients after a similar offer last
week by Merrill Lynch, Bloomberg News reported today. Morgan Stanley
said that it had informed state and federal regulators about its plan to
buy back the securities it sold before Feb. 13. The repurchase, at par
value, will start no later than Sept. 30. New York Attorney General
Andrew M. Cuomo sent letters yesterday to Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase
and Wachovia calling on the banks to begin immediate settlement talks to
resolve inquiries into sales of the notes. Cuomo's office said Morgan
Stanley's offer was inadequate. Regulators have been investigating how
banks and Wall Street firms sold auction-rate securities before the $330
billion market collapsed in February.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/business/12auction.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=business&pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
Tropicana Wins Extension in Bid to
Regain Casino
Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey allowed Tropicana
Entertainment LLC to keep control of its bankruptcy case through the end
of the year as the struggling company works to reclaim its Atlantic City
casino, which was taken over by New Jersey regulators, the Wall
Street Journal reported today. Judge Carey granted the exclusivity
extension on Friday to allow the company up until Jan. 12, 2009, to file
its chapter 11 plan. Tropicana filed for chapter 11 protection on May 5
after the loss of the New Jersey gaming license triggered defaults on
some $2.7 billion in debt.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121848325295030639.html?mod=us_business_whats_news'>Read
more. (Subscription required.)
Judge Dismisses Parmalat Suit Against
Bank of America, Citigroup
U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan dismissed a class-action suit
against Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and others filed on behalf
of investors who bought shares of Italy's Parmalat SpA, the Wall
Street Journal reported today. Judge Kaplan refuted the plaintiffs'
argument that Bank of America owed a duty of disclosure to investors,
saying that would only be true in private placements, which was not the
case here, and that the plaintiffs failed to show that any defendant's
conduct was deceptive. After restructuring from the largest European
bankruptcy in 2003, Parmalat has been involved in dozens of legal
cases in Italy and the United States after Enrico Bondi, who was
appointed CEO shortly after the firm's collapse, accused banks and
former auditors of helping prior Parmalat management hide debt and
inflate results.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121849359362431429.html?mod=us_business_whats_news'>Read
more. (Subscription required.)
Judge Approves $1.25 Million
Settlement between Wickes and Deloitte Consulting
A federal judge has signed off on Wickes Furniture Co. Inc.'s $1.25
million settlement with Deloitte Consulting LLP, putting to rest a
lawsuit Wickes brought against the financial consulting firm before it
entered chapter 11, Bankruptcy Law360 reported yesterday. Under
the settlement, approved Friday, the consulting firm agreed to pay
Wickes and drop its claim against the bankruptcy estate in return for
Wickes' dismissal of its 2007 breach-of-contract suit. Deloitte
Consulting did not admit to any wrondoing in the settlement, and both
companies agreed to bear their own legal costs.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/articles/65711'>Read
more. (Subscription required.)
Airlines
Delta and Northwest Pilots Approve
Merger
Pilots at Delta and the Northwest have approved a collective bargaining
agreement, an element of Delta's efforts to achieve a smooth integration
when it acquires Northwest later this year, the Associated Press
reported yesterday. The pilots still do not have a deal to integrate
their seniority lists but have agreed to submit to binding arbitration
if they cannot come to terms by today. A three-member panel has already
been chosen in case arbitration is needed. The agreement covers roughly
12,000 pilots of the two airlines.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/business/12delta.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print'>Read
more.
Pilots Call for United CEO to Step
Down
The union representing pilots at UAL Corp.'s United Airlines urged CEO
Glenn Tilton to resign today, accusing him of steering the nation's No.
2 carrier down a path to poor customer service, employee morale and
financial performance, the Associated Press reported today. The pilots
have stepped up criticism of United's top executives in recent months,
angry that they have not gotten additional compensation since their pay
was reduced sharply during the company's bankruptcy restructuring from
2002-06. Their pensions were also terminated while UAL was under chapter
11 protection. The Transportation Department said last week that United
had the second-worst on-time rate in June, with 59.3 percent of flights
arriving at scheduled times. The United pilots union also cited a recent
survey conducted by United that revealed that only 38 percent of United
employees take pride in United, down 15 percentage points from
2006.
href='http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5936769.html'>Read
more.
S&P Cuts Ratings on Certain Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac Securities
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered ratings on certain
securities of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a move that may further
complicate their efforts to raise capital, the Wall Street
Journal reported today. The ratings firm cut ratings on preferred
stock and subordinated debt for both companies to A-minus from AA-minus
while leaving their senior debt ratings at AAA. Freddie has said that it
plans to raise at least $5.5 billion of capital, likely through
offerings of common and preferred stock. Fannie raised $7.4 billion
through common and preferred offerings in May but said last week that it
may need to raise more capital eventually.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121848827477530989.html?mod=us_business_whats_news'>Read
more. (Subscription required.)
Former Bear Stearns' Investors Press
for Damages in Court
Shareholders are seeking nearly $2.5 billion in damages from Bear
Stearns Cos. Inc., claiming that the company failed to negotiate hard
enough to get the best deal before its frantic sale to JPMorgan Chase
& Co., Reuters reported yesterday. The lawsuit is one of a string of
cases spurred by Bear Stearns' demise. The company was bought by
JPMorgan in a $1.5 billion deal announced in March, a sale former Bear
Chairman James Cayne has said came after a market 'hurricane' hit the
investment bank. Daniel Krasner, a lawyer who represents former Bear
shareholders in a proposed class-action lawsuit, said at a court hearing
that the company's board of directors made mistakes that gave it little
alternative but to ultimately accept JPMorgan's takeover
offer.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081101317_pf.html'>Read
more.
Chrysler Proposes Four-Day Weeks for
Some Plants
Chrysler LLC is talking to the United Auto Workers union about putting
some plants on four-day, 10-hour work days in order to cut costs, the
Wall Street Journal reported today. The auto maker wants to put
five assembly, three engine and four component plants on the special
work week, Chrysler said. Separately, Ford Motor Co. said it laid off
300 workers at its Romeo, Mich., plant. The cuts are in response to the
curtailed production for the auto maker's sport-utility vehicles and
pickup trucks, a spokeswoman said. The plant employs about 1,200 workers
href='http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121850257029431811.html'>Read
more. (Subscription required.)
International
U.K. Pension Protection Fund
Faces $153 Billion Deficit
The U.K. Pension Protection Fund (PPF) faced a total shortfall of
£80.1 billion ($153billion) at the end of July from pension schemes
in deficit, up from £63.1 billion a month earlier and more than
double the deficit in July 2007, the Financial Times reported
today. As falling stock markets and lower interest rates take their
toll, the PPF is expected to have to assume the liabilities of a growing
number of companies. The PPF has said it intends to develop a framework
to enable it to take a scheme's investment strategy into account when
setting annual premiums. The risk-based portion of the levy currently
only takes account of the riskiness of the individual employer and the
level of underfunding in a scheme. It does not take account of the fact
that a scheme that looks well-funded one day could see its surplus wiped
out overnight through adverse market moves.
href='http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b29c06b2-67cf-11dd-8d3b-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1'>Read
more.