%1

Almost three-and-one-half years after the Catholic Diocese of Camden, New Jersey filed for bankruptcy citing financial effects from the pandemic and sexual abuse settlements, its chapter 11 reorganization plan has been approved, according to the Insurance Journal. The final plan, the ninth amended proposal, establishes an $87.5 million trust to compensate about 324 survivors of sexual abuse within the diocese. The trust will be funded with $87.5 million from the diocese and related Catholic entities. Insurance policies turned over to the diocese will contribute $30 million. Bankruptcy Judge Jerrold N. Poslusny, Jr., in Camden, approved the plan that allows the diocese to pay into the trust over five years and keep operating so it can pay creditors. The settlement also requires the church to maintain and enhance protocols for the protection of children that were first implemented in 2002.

The profits were multiplying at a dizzying clip: 50%, 100%, then suddenly almost 200%. Even for long-time veterans at Attestor Ltd., a boutique London firm that specializes in trading distressed assets, this had the makings of a score to remember, Bloomberg News reported. The trade — targeting the remains of Sam Bankman-Fried’s once-vast cryptocurrency empire — became a popular one in distressed investing circles last year. Many of Attestor’s rivals jumped in, too, and as the value of crypto coins skyrocketed once again, so did the value of the assets they had purchased at rock-bottom prices from clients of Bankman-Fried’s, desperate to recoup whatever they could. Lawyers running the bankruptcy now estimate the clean-up will deliver investors 100% of the money frozen in FTX when it failed. But this is where the story gets messy for Attestor — and its grip on a chunk of that windfall becomes a bit fragile. The seller of one of the biggest FTX accounts it purchased — an obscure Panamanian firm called Lemma Technologies that’s controlled by an embattled South Korean trader — has opted, so far at least, to keep the claim for itself. Attestor’s lawyers have argued in a New York court that this is a clear case of “seller’s remorse.” Over the years, other bankruptcies have brought handsome returns, but rarely, if ever, so rapidly. Back in June, Lemma agreed to a sell price of $58 million, according to evidence submitted to the court. Today, the claim is expected to pay out $165 million.