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June 23, 2006
name='1'>Some 37,000 Workers Plan To Exit GM,
size='3'>
About 37,000 hourly
workers have so far accepted offers by General Motors Corp. and auto
supplier Delphi Corp. to leave the companies, union officials say,
potentially giving the auto maker greater cuts than expected but
presenting a new set of questions to overcome, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Wall Street Journal
size='3'>reported today. In one of the largest employee-buyout programs
in U.S. corporate history, about 28,000 GM workers, or nearly 25 percent
of the car maker's work force represented by the United Auto Workers
union, had taken early-retirement offers or buyouts as of late yesterday
for an offer that ends today, UAW officials said. At
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Delphi
unit that filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, about 9,000
workers had so far taken offers, those officials said. GM in the past
had said it hoped to cut 30,000 hourly jobs by 2008 through attrition
and other methods, but the buyout program has put it near that goal
after less than a year.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB115103184364988473.html'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
As
Workers' Pensions Wither, Those for Executives Flourish
Even as many companies
reduce, freeze or eliminate pensions for workers, their executives are
building up ever-bigger pensions, causing the companies' financial
obligations for them to balloon, the
size='3'>Wall Street Journal reported today.
Boosted by surging pay and rich formulas, executive pension obligations
exceed $1 billion at some companies. They include General Electric Co.
(a $3.5 billion liability); AT&T Inc. ($1.8 billion); General Motors
($1.4 billion); Exxon Mobil Corp. and International Business Machines
Corp. (about $1.3 billion each); and Bank of America Corp. and Pfizer
Inc. (about $1.1 billion apiece). Benefits for executives now account
for a significant share of pension obligations in the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
average of 8 percent at the companies above. Sometimes a company's
obligation for a single executive's pension approaches $100
million.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115103062578188438.html?mod=us_business…'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
w:st='on'>
name='3'>Washington
face='Times New Roman' size='3'> Utility Denounces Enron’s
Proposed Offer
A
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Washington
utility district, which is waiting to recover millions of dollars from
bankrupt Enron Corp., has asked a federal agency to hold a public
hearing over the energy giant’s proposed settlement
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>, Portfolio Media
size='3'>reported yesterday. Snohomish County Public Utility District
filed a motion Tuesday at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) to openly discuss a proposed deal to resolve Enron’s market
manipulation of electricity before and during the 2000-2001 energy
crisis. Snohomish claimed the FERC staff testified earlier that Enron
should disgorge $1.6 billion in unjust profits to utilities and
businesses in
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>Washington
other Western states, but the current proposed settlement would return
only $2.3 million—a fraction of that amount. The FERC staff and
Enron proposed the latest settlement in March, and the Commission plans
to decide on the proposed settlement on June 28.
name='4'>Baking Giants Fight over Bread in Pension
Plan
The battle between two
baking company giants over the handling of a pension plan will reach a
courtroom next week, with Bankrupt Interstate Bakeries Corp. accusing
Sara Lee Corp. of illegally interfering with its bankruptcy,
Portfolio Media
reported yesterday. Bankrupt Interstate Bakeries Corp.,
which makes Hostess, Butternut and Wonder brand products, says that
rival Sara Lee Corp. is interfering with its bankruptcy by filing a
lawsuit over the administration of a pension plan. Interstate, based
in
size='3'>Mo.
in Sara Lee’s lawsuit against the American Bakers Association
retirement plan and its board of trustees, but is implicated because it
is one of several companies that Sara Lee is calling on to pay
off its negative asset balance to the pension. Interstate says that
being forced to pay off the negative assets would jeopardize its plans
to reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy protection. Sara Lee,
meanwhile, said in court filings that Interstate Bakeries isn't a party
in the lawsuit and that it therefore has no right to stop
it.
FCC
Ruling On Adelphia Sale Expected By Mid-July
Within the next few weeks, the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected to complete their
review of Adelphia Communications Corp.’s plan to sell its assets
to Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp., bringing the company one step closer to exiting
chapter 11, Portfolio
Media reported yesterday.
size='3'>In February, the Federal Trade Commission approved the $17.6
billion sale, which Adelphia, the fifth-largest cable TV company in
the
face='Times New 

Roman'
size='3'>U.S.
welcomed as an “important step forward.” As a
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>bankruptcy court has also approved the deal, the FCC is the
last regulatory hurdle Adelphia must clear before the sale can
proceed.
size='3'>Adelphia decided last month to expedite the sale process under
§ 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, with a deadline of July 31 for a
possible $440 million break-up fee looming. The case is
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Adelphia Communications Corp., et
al., case number 02-41729-reg, in the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New
York.
w:st='on'>
name='6'>London
face='Times


New
Roman' size='3'> Fog to Auction Off Trademark
Rainwear maker London Fog
Group Inc. is looking to unload its trademark after selling most of its
assets in two bankruptcy court auctions in recent months,
Portfolio Media
reported yesterday. Preliminary bids for the trademark
are due by the end of June or early July. If more than one bid is
received, London Fog will hold the third auction of its current
bankruptcy proceedings to sell its brand. London Fog said that it has
received interest in the brand, but would not identify from whom or
disclose how much the brand was worth.
name='7'>Kaiser Aluminum Expects to Exit Chapter 11 in
July
Kaiser Aluminum Corp. said
yesterday that it expects its second amended reorganization plan to
become effective on or about July 6, allowing it to emerge from chapter
11 bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported yesterday. The distribution
record date under the plan will be the close of business on June 28, the
Foothill Ranch, Calif.-based company said.
Fresh
out of Bankruptcy, WCI Steel Begins Upgrades
Mill upgrades are coming
quickly now that WCI Steel has emerged from bankruptcy court as the
Warren, Ohio-based steelmaker said yesterday that it will
spend $29.3 million on equipment to meet new pollution standards,
the Youngstown
Vindicator reported today.
face='Times New Roman'>This is
the second major investment announced by the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Warren
recently. WCI said last month that it was going to spend $36.7 million
on a new furnace that reheats steel slabs so they can be rolled into
coils. In all, the company plans to spend $125 million in the next four
years to upgrade the mill. A company spokesman said that WCI
finally has the ability to spend money on major upgrades after
spending two-and-a-half years in bankruptcy court.
href='http://community.vindy.com/content_printstory.php?link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww…'>Read
more.
One of the nation's most
prominent hedge funds, Pequot Capital Management, is under investigation
by the Securities and Exchange Commission for possible insider
trading, according to government officials briefed on the case,
the New York
Times reported today. The SEC declined to
confirm or deny that it was investigating Pequot, a $7 billion fund
overseen by leading money manager and philanthropist Arthur J. Samberg.
But a lawyer who once led the agency's investigation has told Congress
that the fund's trading had repeatedly aroused suspicion among stock
exchange officials, prompting them on 18 occasions to refer cases to the
SEC for further investigation, records show. In one instance, Pequot
made $18 million by investing in companies that soon after announced a
major corporate merger, in July 2001, the lawyer told
Congress. The
investigation has not resulted in any charges against Pequot and the
fund has denied any wrongdoing.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/23/business/23fund.html?_r=1&oref=slogin…'>Read
more.
name='10'>Lawsuit Filed over
w:st='on'>Alaska
New Pension Plan
Labor unions representing state
employees yesterday asked the courts to stop a new retirement system
from going into effect July 1 because they claim that the new plan
may not qualify for Internal Revenue Service exemptions, the Associated
Press reported yesterday. Bruce Ludwig, business manager for the Alaska
Public Employees Association, said that the new 401(k)-type savings plan
was unacceptable. The Alaska Legislature adjourned its regular session
last month without approving a 34-page bill that would clean up
technical problems with the controversial retirement overhaul that was
approved by lawmakers in 2005. The proposed changes were largely
designed to ensure that the new plan complied with IRS codes and
regulations.
href='http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/7888291p-7781938c.html'>Read
more.
International
name='11'>Credit Card Debt is Rising Fastest Among British
Retirees
Debt levels are rising
fastest among retired British people and those who are nearing
retirement, a leading charity said yesterday, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>London Telegraph
size='3'>reported today. The average sum owed by clients aged 60 or over
who have contacted the Consumer Credit Counselling Service in the past
year is £33,568. That is a 25 percent increase on the previous
year. Cases of extreme debt are also worsening. The number of people
owing more than £100,000 nearly doubled to 2.7 percent of CCCS
clients, up from 1.4 percent in 2004.
href='http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/23/ndebt23…'>Read
more.