Contact: John Hartgen
703-739-0800
style='FONT-SIZE: 12pt'>ABI ENDOWMENT FUND AWARDS NEW GRANT TO STUDY
CREDIT COUNSELING
May 19, 2008 Alexandria, Va. -- The American
Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) Endowment Fund has awarded a $17,500 grant to
researchers studying the effectiveness of credit counseling. The
Coalition for Consumer Bankruptcy Debtor Education and Dr.
Richard L. Wiener, director of the Law and Psychology
Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, were awarded the grant
– matched by the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges
Endowment – to compare traditional credit counseling with the
pre-bankruptcy counseling required as a precondition for bankruptcy
under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of the
2005 (BAPCPA). The grant expands upon a $32,000 study funded by the
Consumer Protection and Education Fund (the Sears Fund) in late 2006 to
study pre-bankruptcy counseling.
Traditional credit counseling and the pre-bankruptcy counseling required
as a precondition for bankruptcy under BAPCPA have important
differences, including counseling sessions with different
characteristics, economics and educational goals. The combined study
will double the sample size, thus enhancing the value of the findings to
regulators such as the Internal Revenue Service and Executive Office for
U.S. Trustees, Congress, academics and the consumer public.
The ABI Endowment Fund was created in 1989 to provide a secure financial
base for the Institute and to provide resources for insolvency research
and education. Projects eligible for Endowment funding include research
by individuals or entities relating to bankruptcy or insolvency; surveys
or other analytical investigation; the education of judges, court
personnel, other governmental personnel and the general public;
scholarships or other educational grants; support for the Robert M.
Zinman Resident Scholar; and support for both the Chief Judge Conrad B.
Duberstein National Bankruptcy Memorial Moot Court Competition and
ABI’s Corporate Restructuring Competition. Since 1998, the Fund
has awarded nearly $750,000 in grants. Learn more about the ABI
Endowment fund by visiting
href='http://www.abiworld.org/contribute'>http://www.abiworld.org/contribute.
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ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization
dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency.
ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased
analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes more than
11,700 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders,
turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a
forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional
information on ABI, visit
href='http://www.abiworld.org/'>www.abiworld.org. For additional
conference information, visit
href='http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html'>http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html.