Bankruptcy Blogs

One Cheer for Bank Regulators

08/19/13

U.S. regulators have only marginally improved upon the European version of Basel III.

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Excel Paid $3.4M to Chairman Who Steered Company Into Bankruptcy

08/19/13

Excel Maritime Carrier Ltd. doled out more than $3.4 million to Chairman Excel Maritime Carrier Ltd. doled out more than $3.4 million to Chairman Gabriel Panayotides in the 12 months before the shipping firm filed for bankruptcy.

The total included Mr. Panayotides’s $3.37 million-a-year salary, according to a financial report the company recently filed with the bankruptcy court. In all the company paid more than $5 million to a dozen company insiders—top executives and board members—in the year before its July Chapter 11 filing,

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In Rem Relief Granted Against Serial Filers

08/19/13

In the case of In re Selinsky, 365 B.R. 260 (Bkrtcy.S.D.Fla.2007)(Ray, J.), the court dealt with a situation of five serial bankruptcy filings by the Debtor and her husband to stall a foreclosure of their real property. The mortgagee's motion for relief from the automatic stay case before the court.

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The Daily Docket: Kodak Creditors Favor Bankruptcy Plan

08/19/13
Jim Rydbom/Associated Press
Kodak Colorado Division Building C-29

Eastman Kodak Co.

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JPM Faces Probe Over Hiring in China; Merrill Lynch to Dissolve (But Not Disappear) Into B of A

08/19/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... JPM's Woes Grow … Again: The hits just keep on coming over at JPMorgan Chase. The nation's biggest bank disclosed in a regulatory filing that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating its hiring practices in China. "Authorities suspect that JPMorgan routinely hired young associates who hailed from well-connected Chinese families that ultimately offered the bank business," explains the Times, which first reported on the filing. The bank told several news outlets…

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In Case Of First Impression, Eleventh Circuit Holds Pre-Petition Bad Faith Can Constitute “Cause” For Disimssal Under §707(a).

08/18/13

Creditors and other parties in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy cases filed in the Eleventh Circuit just got more ammunition from the Court of Appeals to seek dismissal of cases in which the debtor filed only to avoid a single, large debt, even in the absence of fraud or misconduct.

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Mortgage Wars Part 1--Debtor Wins Rare (But Limited) Victory Under TDCA

08/17/13
The life of an appellate court judge is largely occupied by consideration of criminal appeals and prisoner petitions.    In FY2012, these cases made up 64% of the Fifth Circuit's docket.   (By contrast, bankruptcy appeals made up only 1.7% of cases docketed).    While they are statistically insignificant, the Fifth Circuit is having to devote an increasing amount of its time to cases involving persons unhappy about the foreclosure of their residence.   By my count, the Fifth Circuit has issued two published opi
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Mortgage Wars Part 1--Debtor Wins Rare (But Limited) Victory Under TDCA

08/17/13
The life of an appellate court judge is largely occupied by consideration of criminal appeals and prisoner petitions.    In FY2012, these cases made up 64% of the Fifth Circuit's docket.   (By contrast, bankruptcy appeals made up only 1.7% of cases docketed).    While they are statistically insignificant, the Fifth Circuit is having to devote an increasing amount of its time to cases involving persons unhappy about the foreclosure of their residence.   By my count, the Fifth Circuit has issued three published o
[more]