Bankruptcy Blogs

Election Season Could Spur Expansion of Operation Choke Point

08/22/14

Financial institutions and industries targeted by Operation Choke Point should expect to see a dramatic increase in the issuance of administrative subpoenas or civil investigative demands.

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Morning Scan: B of A's 'Mortgage Sins'; CFPB Can't Stop Revolving Door

08/22/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ... BofA's 'Mortgage Sins': Documents released as part of Bank of America's $17 billion settlement with the U.S. government "read like a highlight reel of the mortgage sins that fed the 2008 financial crisis," the New York Times reports. The Times and the Wall Street Journal focus on a few particularly striking passages. Former Countrywide Financial chief Angelo Mozilo warned in a 2005 email that a possible condo-market crash would be a "financialÂ...

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The Daily Docket: BofA and FDIC Settle Failed Bank Suits

08/22/14

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Bank of America Corp. have settled their long-running battle over who is ultimately responsible for losses tied to the sale of mortgage securities to more than two dozen failed banks. Read the Daily Bankruptcy Review story in The Wall Street Journal.

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Debtors Pass Means Test But Case Dismissed Based on the Totality of Circumstances of the Debtors' Financial Situation

08/21/14

In the case of In re Parada, 2008 WL 126626 (Bkrtcy.S.D.Fla. January 10, 2008)(Isicoff, J.) the court was presented with the U.S. Trustee's motion to dismiss the chapter 7 debtors' case as an abuse pursuant to section 707(b)(1) by the application of the section 707(b)(2) means test presumption and pursuant to the 707(b)(3)(B) totality of the circumstances of the financial situation test. The court found that while the debtors passed the means test, they did not pass the totality of the circumstances of the debtors' financial situation test.

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Pittsburgh Riverhounds Aim to Score Bankruptcy Exit

08/21/14

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds soccer team has a plan to get out of bankruptcy with a new owner: a local businessman who has already extended several million dollars to keep the team kicking.

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Capmark Strikes Secret Settlement With Former CEO

08/21/14

Capmark Financial Group reached a settlement with its former head honcho over the nearly $17 million he received when he left the commercial real estate lender the year before its bankruptcy, but one key detail is under wraps—how much the individual will pay.

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Why Banks Need to Be More Like Carrots

08/21/14

The invention of baby carrots transformed Americans' vegetable-eating habits. Banks need to shake up their products and services in a similarly unique way if they hope to differentiate themselves, according to Bill Early of PlumDog Financial.

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Criminal Law and Financial Distress

08/21/14

I commend to Slips readers Alex Tabarrok's post over at Marginal Revolution entitled "Ferguson and the Modern Debtor’s Prison." 

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Let Customers — Not Regulators — Decide the Right Size for Banks

08/21/14

Some politicians and regulators appear determined to shrink big banks. But doing so could hurt Americans who appreciate big banks' geographical reach and wide range of services, according to financial markets scholar Stephen Matteo Miller.

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Morning Scan: Countrywide's Mozilo May Face U.S. Suit; BofA to Reach $17B Deal

08/21/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ... BofA's $16.7B Settlement: The Justice Department and Bank of America are expected to announce a $16.7 billion deal Thursday to settle charges the bank misrepresented the quality of its mortgage-backed securities. "The settlement amount is the largest ever reached between the U.S. and a single company, and is approximately equal to the bank's total profit for the past three years," the Wall Street Journal reports. Bank of America chief Brian Moynihan hasÂ...

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