Cambridge Analytica, overwhelmed by a scandal over how it harvested data from Facebook to influence the last U.S. election, filed for bankruptcy in New York, Bloomberg News reported. The U.K.-based political consulting firm had already said it would cease operations and wind down in its home country and the chapter 7 petition in New York will address issues raised by U.S. creditors. The filing listed estimated liabilities of $1 million to $10 million.
A U.S. bankruptcy court is set to hear a dispute involving Brazilian telecoms company Oi SA and major shareholder Bratel Brasil SA, Bratel said yesterday, as investor discontent with Oi’s bankruptcy reorganization process shows no signs of abating, Reuters reported. On Friday, Bratel, a subsidiary of Portugal’s Pharol SGPS SA, which owns almost 28 percent of Oi’s common shares, said that it had filed a legal complaint in the United States. The complaint alleges that the rights of Oi shareholders were violated as part of an agreement approved by creditors in December to severely dilute shareholders’ equity to take Oi out of bankruptcy protection. Bratel said yesterday that Bankruptcy Judge <b>Sean Lane</b> had scheduled a hearing for May 29. Representatives for Oi criticized the move in a separate statement sent to Reuters, writing that the company “believes Pharol is acting in a totally isolated way in relation to all of the stakeholders in this process,” and that Pharol is trying to repeat arguments it unsuccessfully made in Brazilian courts.
U.S. jewelry chain Samuels Jewelers has hired a turnaround adviser at the request of its creditors in a bid to avoid the fate of brick-and-mortar retailers that filed for bankruptcy amid intensifying competition, Reuters reported. Samuel Jewelers’ action comes as its Indian parent company, Gitanjali Gems Ltd, finds itself in legal hot water. Gitanjali’s chairman, Mehul Choksi, was accused by state-run Punjab National Bank in India of defrauding it of nearly $2 billion. Samuel Jewelers has hired Berkeley Research Group LLC for help managing its cash and improving its performance. Samuels Jewelers, with about 130 stores across the U.S., has $90 million in debt. Gitanjali acquired Samuels Jewelers in 2006 to compliment its other U.S. businesses, and planned to supply the shops with jewelry made in its plants in India. Choksi’s nephew, billionaire jeweler and diamond merchant Nirav Modi, has also been accused of conducting the fraud against the bank. His company, Firestar Diamond Inc., filed for bankruptcy in New York earlier this year.
President Donald Trump’s plans to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement this year looked unattainable yesterday after negotiators appeared too far apart to strike a deal before a deadline this week, the Wall Street Journal reported. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R) had set this Thursday as an informal deadline if the administration were to push a pact through the Republican-controlled Congress before a new slate of lawmakers arrives in Washington, D.C., next year, possibly led by Democrats. The U.S. and Mexican governments had hoped to reach at least the general terms of an agreement this week to allow enough time for legislative approval before year’s end. Negotiators had sought to avoid complications stemming from July 1 presidential and congressional elections in Mexico and U.S. congressional midterm elections in November. Canada, by contrast, faces little pressure to rush.
