Bankruptcy Blogs

Congress Lets Banks Out of the Doghouse

02/17/15

The confirmation hearing for attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch suggested a shift in legislators' attitudes toward banks. Rather than the usual focus on banks' alleged misdeeds, lawmakers cast them as victims of government overreach in Operation Choke Point.

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The Daily Docket: GM Seeks to Preserve Bankruptcy Shield

02/17/15
Associated Press

General Motors Co. is in court Tuesday to try to pres

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Morning Scan: Russian-Speaking Group's Cyber Attacks Detailed; Losing Their Patience

02/17/15

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

The Russian Hacker Mob: Russian-speaking gangs of hackers have stolen millions of dollars since 2013 from banks in the U.S., Eastern Europe and Russia and according to the Russian computer-security firm Kaspersky Lab, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Financial Times' report on the same study said the thieves' total haul may be closer to $1 billion. Most alarming is the lab's claim the cyberattack is still active. The Kaspersky Lab issued...

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What are a Landlord’s “Rejection Damages?”

02/16/15

If the debtor-tenant seeks to terminate and surrender the lease, that is “reject it”, the landlord may be entitled to a “rejection damage” claim.  A landlord is not entitled to the full amount of unpaid obligations for the balance of the lease.  Instead, Section 502(b)(6) limits the recovery a landlord may receive for “rejection damages.” Under Section 502(b)(6) of the Bankruptcy Code, the landlord is entitled to rent due under the rejected lease for the greater of (i.) one year’s rent, or

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Scarcity of Money? Or Time?

02/16/15

How is it that I never find the time to blog? My answer would be that I simply do not have the time. But of course I have the same hours in a day as my co-bloggers. I could argue that I have more demands on my time, but I know very well that we are all busy. Scarcity, a book by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir, has many lessons for busy people, including those of us who are busy thinking about the difficulties faced by people who have a scarcity of income or disposable income after debt. 

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Hacking and Systemic Financial Risk (Encore)

02/14/15

The data breach stories just don't seem to stop. (And why would they?). The latest (I think) is about a massive and sophisticated multi-million dollar hacking of several banks.  If you read down through the story, one of the things the hackers did was manipulate the balances of real accounts.  They'd change a real $1,000 balance to $10,000 and then have $9,000 wired to an account at another institution.  

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Coming to Law -- Churches in Bankruptcy Edition

02/14/15

Credit Slips contributor Pamela Foohey has just posted her most recent work in her series of articles on churches in bankruptcy. I have been a big fan of this research project since Pamela was a fellow at the University of Illinois. She tells us not only about bankruptcy but also about the ways in which these churches look like most any small business.

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'Warren Is Using Community Banks as Human Shields': Weekly Wrap

02/13/15

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week.

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Utah Gun Maker Files for Bankruptcy

02/13/15

A Utah gun manufacturer, locked in a three-year legal battle with convicted felon Ralph Merrill, has filed for bankruptcy.

Vector Arms Corp.—the “source for the best AK47 and *UZI’s on the market”—faces big legal bills in a dispute over whether Mr. Merrill sold the company’s gun-making equipment and inventory to current owner and president Jason Maughn in 2011.

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Family of Murdered Man Wants Right to Caesars’ Insurance Money

02/13/15

The family of a man brutally murdered by a former friend at a Caesars-owned property in 2009 wants a judge to lift the bankruptcy shield that protects Caesars Entertainment Operating Corp. from lawsuits during its Chapter 11 case so the family can go after the casino giant’s insurance policies.

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