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The primary industry group for the corporate loan market warned that any attempt to limit the rights of secured creditors in the event of a bankruptcy could have a broader impact on companies' access to and cost of capital, the Wall Street Journal's CFO Journal reported today. The comments by the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) were aimed at the American Bankruptcy Institute's Chapter 11 Commission, which is currently studying the 1978 bankruptcy code for areas in need of updating. The LSTA's general counsel Elliot Ganz announced the formation of a working group on the ABI's review that any attempt to limit secured creditors' rights could limit companies' access to capital both before and after bankruptcy, because lenders will feel less protected. Robert Keach, co-chair of the ABI Chapter 11 Commission, said that the Commission has so far only identified the role of secured debt in bankruptcies as an area of study and hasn’t taken any position on the issue. "The ABI commission is certainly not looking at the prevalence of secured debt that’s occurred over the last 30 years as a problem to be solved," he said. "We mentioned it in the mission statement because there have been changes that have occurred over time that have made the current Code somewhat obsolete."

The next hearing of ABI's Chapter 11 Commission will be on Thursday, Nov. 15, at the CFA Annual Convention in Phoenix. For more information on the public hearing schedule and the work of the Commission, please click here: http://commission.abi.org/

Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross has granted Nassau Broadcasting Corp. an extension to file a creditor-repayment plan as it awaits regulatory approval to sell its radio stations, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. Judge Gross on Wednesday extended the company's exclusive right to file a creditor-payment plan through Nov. 30. Nassau has said that it needs the extension to complete the sale of its assets.

A123 Systems Inc., the bankrupt maker of electric-car batteries that received a $249.1 million federal grant, won permission to sell its assets at a Dec. 6 auction where bidders will include Johnson Controls Inc. and Wanxiang Group Co., Bloomberg news reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey approved bidding procedures at a hearing yesterday overruling the U.S. Trustee’s objection to a $2.5 million breakup fee Johnson Controls will get if it is not the winner. Johnson Controls also would get $3 million for expenses. The proposed protections for Johnson Controls will "enhance the process," not chill it, Judge Carey said. He scheduled a Dec. 11 hearing to approve the sale.

Bakers Footwear Group Inc . wants to kick off a sale process for leases at 151 stores where it is poised to liquidate its merchandise, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. The shoe store chain on Tuesday debuted a proposed "two-step process," which would first involve sealed bids and then move to an open auction, as it seeks to dispose of the leases.

U.S. consulting and advisory firm Monitor Company Group and its affiliates filed for chapter 11 protection, court documents showed, and said that it has agreed to sell its assets to global consultancy firm Deloitte, Reuters reported yesterday. As per the asset purchase agreement, Deloitte Consulting LLP will acquire Monitor's U.S. practice, and practices outside the United States will be acquired by certain other member firms of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. Monitor, which offers consulting services to corporations, governments, and social sector organizations, said that selling assets to Deloitte through the chapter 11 route was the best option. The company listed both estimated liabilities and estimated assets for the consolidated group in the range of $100 million to $500 million, according to a court filing.

Bakers Footwear Group Inc. is poised to launch going-out-of-business sales at two-thirds of its stores and is considering liquidating its entire shoe store chain, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. SB Capital Group LLC and Tiger Capital Group LLC won a Monday auction for the right to shut down 150 locations. The deal also gives Bakers the right to include its remaining 63 stores, plus certain inventory located in its distribution center, in the going-out-of-business sales, according to court papers.

Bankruptcy Judge Charles E. Rendlen said that shoe retailer Bakers Footwear Group Inc . can hire professional liquidators to close down more than 150 stores by the end of the year, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. Judge Rendlen on Thursday signed off on Bakers' request to name a joint venture formed by liquidators SB Capital Group and Tiger Capital Group as the stalking-horse bidder to conduct the sales pending an auction scheduled for today.

Vann's Inc. received approval on Friday from a bankruptcy judge to sell its five electronics stores to Texas-based McMagic Partners LP, the Missoulian reported on Saturday. Bankruptcy Court Judge John L. Peterson's authorization of the motion for sale clears the way for a Monday closing on the $4.5 million deal intended to keep the stores open. The $4.5 million McMagic offer is just over half the $8 million Vann’s owes to a list of creditors.

The Office of the U.S. Trustee and private equity investor Palm Beach Capital say that Digital Domain Media Group is a corporate shell that is trying to sell what is left and pushing a settlement with unsecured creditors and top-ranking lenders, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. Once a prize-winning provider of special effects for movies such as "Titanic," Digital Domain collapsed on Sept. 11 and sold its operating business in a high-speed bankruptcy sale.

Ocwen Financial Corp. and Walter Investment Management Corp. yesterday prevailed in a bankruptcy auction for Residential Capital LLC's mortgage servicing business with a $3 billion bid that topped rival Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc., Reuters reported yesterday. Ocwen and Walter teamed up to buy ResCap's mortgage servicing operation that handles payments for 2.4 million home loans with a balance of about $374 billion. ResCap, once a major subprime lender, also has a mortgage lending operation.