A McKinsey & Co. retirement fund held investments that gave it a financial interest in the outcome of six bankruptcy cases in which the company also was serving as an adviser, court and regulatory filings show, the Wall Street Journal. McKinsey’s restructuring unit, known as McKinsey RTS, didn’t disclose those investments publicly. Rules governing the chapter 11 bankruptcy process require advisers to disclose all relationships that might give rise to a conflict of interest, to ensure that advisers will be disinterested advocates for their clients and that other participants in the cases are aware of them. The McKinsey retirement fund’s investments with two hedge-fund companies, Whitebox Advisors LLC and Strategic Value Partners LLC, gave it a stake in the debt or other obligations of six companies that sought bankruptcy protection: United Airlines parent UAL Corp. in 2002; American Airlines parent AMR Corp. in 2011; Edison Mission Energy in 2012; NII Holdings Inc. in 2014; Alpha Natural Resources Inc. in 2015; and SunEdison Inc. in 2016. McKinsey was a bankruptcy adviser to all six companies. In each bankruptcy case McKinsey advised on, its officials signed a sworn statement that the firm was a disinterested party.
