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Crypto lender BlockFi Inc. has asked for a court ruling stripping Sam Bankman-Fried ‘s offshore investment vehicle of the protections of chapter 11, citing the recent seizure of its assets by federal prosecutors, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. BlockFi, itself bankrupt since November, sought Thursday to dismiss the bankruptcy case of Emergent Fidelity Technologies Ltd., the offshore investment vehicle that Mr. Bankman-Fried used to purchase a 7.6% stake in Robinhood Markets Inc. The chapter 11 case serves little purpose and was only filed to undermine BlockFi’s claim to the Robinhood shares, according to BlockFi’s motion in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Court-appointed liquidators in Antigua and Barbuda, where Emergent is based, placed it under chapter 11 earlier this month after federal prosecutors seized its Robinhood stake and cash holdings. BlockFi said in its filing that Emergent has no property to administer that would qualify it for chapter 11 and only filed bankruptcy as a litigation tactic. BlockFi has staked a claim to the Robinhood shares as collateral for $600 million in loans it made to Mr. Bankman-Fried’s crypto trading firm Alameda Research. The new management team guiding FTX and Alameda through their own chapter 11 cases has also claimed an interest in Emergent’s assets, which now sit in a government-controlled account.

Troubled discount home-goods retailer Tuesday Morning Corp. will close more than half its locations nationwide after filing for chapter 11 protection for the second time in three years, MarketWatch.com reported. The company filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 14, with Chief Executive Andrew Berger citing “exceedingly burdensome debt.” The company said it has secured a $51.5 million debtor-in-possession commitment from Invictus Global Management. “We have determined that the best path to reorganizing and transforming the company begins with a chapter 11 filing,” Berger said in a statement. “Fortunately, we have the support of a committed capital provider in Invictus and a clear vision for transforming into a focused retailer that serves its core heritage markets in a profitable manner.” Tuesday Morning said that it currently operates 487 stores in 40 states, and it employed about 1,600 full-time and 4,700 part-time workers, according to its most recent 10-K filing. The company said that the 263 stores targeted for closure are largely in “low-traffic regions.”

Ohio lawmakers have revived bipartisan legislation that would level the playing field for Ohioans who were sexually abused by Boy Scout leaders and want to seek financial relief from the organization, the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch reported. Ohio House Bill 35, introduced last week by Reps. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, and Jessica Miranda, D-Forest Park, stems from rules laid out in the Boy Scouts of America's bankruptcy settlement. It would scrap Ohio's civil statute of limitations for child sex abuse in bankruptcy cases, allowing survivors to recoup the full amount owed to them. The House passed the bill late last year, but it failed to clear the Senate during the Legislature's lame-duck session. That means Seitz and Miranda are starting from scratch. Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy in 2020 as it faced hundreds of lawsuits across the country from former scouts who said they were molested and raped by leaders and volunteers. Nearly 2,000 abuse claims have been filed in Ohio alone. The settlement, approved in September, allows survivors to apply for a $3,500 expedited payout. Alternatively, survivors can pursue an independent review or see where they fall on a matrix that doles out money based on the severity and frequency of abuse. For those two options, the state's statute of limitations is a key factor. In Ohio, survivors of child sex abuse have until age 30 to file a lawsuit against the perpetrator or affiliated institution. Per the settlement rules, Ohio's current law would limit survivors to 30% to 45% of what they're eligible for under the matrix. They would not qualify for an independent review.

Cryptocurrency executives had hoped that 2023 would herald a new beginning after a year of disastrous setbacks. Instead, the industry has found itself on the receiving end of an aggressive government crackdown, the New York Times reported. Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission levied fines and other penalties against crypto lending firms, while federal banking officials issued policy statements that appeared calculated to make it harder for crypto companies to participate in the mainstream finance system. In the last few days, the pace has accelerated. Two high-profile crypto firms — including a popular exchange where people buy and sell digital coins — came under intense pressure from state and federal regulators. After announcing a settlement with the exchange, the S.E.C. also fined a crypto promoter and sued a start-up that issued digital coins, for a total of three enforcements in just over a week. The actions are likely a prelude to a protracted spell of legal wrangling, as regulators respond to the market turmoil that caused prominent crypto companies to file for bankruptcy last year and cost investors billions of dollars. And the enforcement signals a growing urgency in Washington, D.C., to address the threat posed by cryptocurrencies, an experimental technology that enables new forms of financial speculation. For years, regulators were criticized for failing to come to grips with the crypto industry, even as it grew into a multitrillion-dollar business. In November, the FTX crypto exchange, once regarded as one of the most reliable firms in the freewheeling industry, failed practically overnight, and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was charged with orchestrating a yearslong fraud. That put regulators under intense pressure to act. Crypto companies have long existed in a legal gray area, with legislators and government officials debating how they should be classified for regulation. The industry’s growth has outstripped the slow-moving federal bureaucracies that oversee the other parts of the finance industry, like traditional banks and publicly traded companies.

State regulators moved forward Thursday with placing United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. into receivership after higher-than-expected losses from Hurricane Ian helped push the insurer into insolvency, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Interim Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworksy sent a letter to state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis to trigger a process that will lead to seeking court approval to place the St. Petersburg-based insurer into receivership, according to documents posted on the Office of Insurance Regulation website. United Property & Casualty agreed to the move. United Property & Casualty has faced deep financial problems for months, including announcing in August that it would exit Florida’s troubled homeowners’ insurance market. Tampa-based Slide Insurance Co. on Feb. 1 picked up 72,000 of United Property & Casualty’s policies. In a Feb. 10 filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, parent company United Insurance Holdings Corp. said United Property & Casualty was expected to be placed into receivership because of insolvency.