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May 10, 2005
Asbestos Bill Talks Continue
The outcome of asbestos legislation slated for a markup this week
remains unclear, CongressDaily reported. Aides and
lobbyists predict the long-debated bill might pass the Senate Judiciary
Committee by Thursday. Sources expect the markup, which begins Wednesday
and probably will continue the next day, to include another
managers’ amendment to reflect the negotiations between Judiciary
Chairman Arlen Specter (R–Pa.) and panel members. Other new
amendments are expected, in addition to the more than 80 that were
offered during a markup session last month. Whether the changes in the
managers’ amendment will be enough to secure enough votes for
committee passage is uncertain, the newswire reported. Meanwhile, Sen.
Edward Kennedy (D–Mass.) said yesterday the bill would
short-change victims while allowing companies to dictate how much they
are willing to spend to settle asbestos liabilities.
March Bankruptcy Filings Surge after Changes Approved
Bankruptcy filings in March jumped nearly 60 percent from February,
according to Cardweb.com, a Frederick, Md.–based firm that tracks
the credit and debit card industries, the Chicago Tribune
reported. Compared with last March, filings rose 8.5 percent, which
Cardweb.com said was a change from January and February, when filings
fell compared with year-earlier periods. Read the full article at
href='http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0505100225may10,1,133054.sto…'>www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0505100225may10,1,133054.story?coll….
Lawyers Fear Effects of Bankruptcy Changes
New Bedford attorney Roger Stanford, one of a handful of local
attorneys specializing in bankruptcy law, said the new bankruptcy bill
“is going to make it much more difficult and much more
expensive” for individuals and small businesses to file for
bankruptcy protection from their creditors, southcoasttoday.com
reported. Read the full article at
href='http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/05-05/05-08-05/d01bu522.htm'>www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/05-05/05-08-05/d01bu522.htm.
Delta Filing Reaffirms Cash Crunch at Year-end
Delta Air Lines Inc. reiterated its expectations that its level of
cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments will be
“substantially lower” at the end of 2005 than it was in the
third quarter ended March 31, according to its quarterly report filed
today with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the online Wall
Street Journal reported. Delta noted that if its level of cash
and cash equivalents and short-term investments otherwise declines to an
unacceptably low level, it would need to restructure under chapter
11.
Duke to Buy Cinergy for $9.1 Billion
Duke Energy Corp. agreed to acquire Cinergy Corp. for $9.1 billion in
stock, accelerating the consolidation of the U.S. power industry, the
Wall Street Journal reported. Consolidation of the utility
sector, broadly expected five years ago, slowed after Enron
Corp.’s bankruptcy filing in late 2001, which halted the
deregulation movement. But there are indications that merger activity
may be picking up, now that many utility companies have worked their way
out of difficulty.
Canadian Catholic Diocese to Sell Churches to Pay Claims
A Roman Catholic diocese in eastern Canada plans to sell all of its
churches and missions to raise the money to pay the victims of sexual
assault by a priest who was convicted more than a decade ago, a bishop
said yesterday, the Associated Press reported. The Catholic Diocese of
St. George’s will sell about 150 properties to raise $10.5 million
as part of a settlement for the victims of the Rev. Kevin Bennett, who
was convicted in 1990 of hundreds of sexual assaults over three decades
as a priest in the province of Newfoundland, the newswire reported.
United Airlines
United Defends Pension-ending Deal as ‘Landmark’
Entering a critical phase in its bid to get out of bankruptcy, United
Airlines yesterday defended its plan to hand off employee pension fund
obligations to the government’s pension insurer as a
“landmark achievement” in its restructuring, the Associated
Press reported. Unions, however, continued to raise the possibility of
striking the carrier if it dumps the pensions and has labor contracts
rewritten to further reduce pay and benefits without their consent.
UAL Ruling Leaves U.S. Airlines’ Financing Option Open
A recent court ruling linked to the UAL Corp. bankruptcy will help
air carriers to continue financing their airline purchases with secured
debt, removing a threat that had hung over the roughly $30 billion
secured airline bond industry, Reuters reported. An appeals court ruled
that investors have the right to repossess aircraft they were leasing to
UAL’s United Airlines.
Mississippi Lands $107 Million Tax Settlement with MCI
Mississippi settled its tax case against MCI for $100 million in cash
and its $7 million former headquarters, though the state wanted as much
as $1 billion from the long distance telephone company, state officials
said yesterday, Reuters reported. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood
said the state’s financial difficulties played a part in the
decision not to pursue its court case, which experts said might have
taken years. “I am pleased to help solve the immediate budget
crisis that this state is experiencing,” Hood said in a
statement.