Bankruptcy Blogs

Morning Scan: FHFA Changes Tune on Fannie and Freddie; Sallie Mae Pays Up

05/14/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ... FHFA Fanfare: Federal Housing Finance Agency director Mel Watt made waves Tuesday with a speech indicating that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should help make more credit available to homeowners. While the move is intended to bolster the housing market recovery, the Wall Street Journal reports that "some economists and lenders Â... worry that regulators could be opening the way for another boom and bust." the New York Times and the WashingtonÂ...

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Why Geithner Was Pro-Bailout

05/13/14

In his account of the financial crisis, former Treasury Secretary and New York Fed President Tim Geithner offers a full-throated defense of his fight to bail out Washington Mutual's bondholders and protect Citigroup's bid to take over Wachovia.

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Consumer Arbitration: Taking Stock

05/13/14

I have an op-ed in today's American Banker on the supposed efficiency and fairness of binding mandatory arbitration.  We've given arbitration occasional coverage on the Slips over the years, but it's never been a major focus of our posting, in part because it isn't inherently a credit issue.

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CEO Succession Planning: There's a Cost to Complacency

05/13/14

Bank boards are busier than ever, but that's no excuse for putting succession planning on the back burner.

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Mandatory Arbitration Offers Bargain-Basement Justice

05/13/14

Advocates of mandatory arbitration say that it is cheaper than litigation and just as fair to consumers. Both claims are suspect.

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The Daily Docket: Nortel Legal Teams Battle for Cash

05/13/14
Nathan Denette/Associated Press

With $7.3 billion up for grabs, Nortel's

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Morning Scan: RBS Moves to Spin Off Citizens; Fed Staffing Strains

05/13/14

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Citizens Split: Royal Bank of Scotland filed an initial public offering for U.S. retail business Citizens Financial Group on Monday, part of the British bank's plan to rebuild its troubled finances. Citizens, which is based in Providence, R.I., has 1,370 branches, operating in New England, the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest. RBS previously said it would sell about one quarter of its U.S. business by the end of this year, and would exit...

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Energy Future Unsecured Creditors Form Ranks, Hire Morrison & Foerster

05/13/14

Morrison & Foerster won the plum job of representing the official committee of unsecured creditors in the Energy Future Holdings Corp. Chapter 11 case, one of the biggest bankruptcies on record.

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Why Designating Funds as SIFIs Could Hurt Retirees

05/12/14

Mutual funds pose no threat to the stability of the financial system. Yet regulators appear determined to designate them as systemically important financial institutions-a move that could hurt millions of Americans who depend on the funds as retirement savings vehicles.

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