A Justice Department fund fed by the quarterly fees that bankrupt companies pay to use the federal court system is growing but still falls short of the $200 million target that would prompt department officials to lower the fee rate, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The fund contained about $44 million as of September. The program’s account contained about $15 million on Sept. 30, 2017. Federal lawmakers in 2017 voted to increase fees starting Jan. 1, 2018, rattling bankruptcy industry professionals who said that they were concerned that already-struggling companies wouldn’t be able to afford higher fees. Under the new fee system, companies using chapter 11 protection that have operating expenses of more than $1 million must pay a fee to the Justice Department equal to 1 percent of those expenses, up to $250,000. The previous cap was $30,000.
