Bankruptcy Blogs

Passing “The Means Test” Can Still Mean Chapter 7 Dismissal

07/24/12

Back when the bankruptcy laws were changed in 2005, a hard calculation was implemented, based on household income and household size, to determine whether or not a bankruptcy filer was making a “decent” living, and should be disqualified from discharging debts completely in Chapter 7 without repayment.  This hard calculation has been dubbed The Means [...]

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It's High Time for High-Frequency Banking

07/24/12

You should be able to move your money as fast as you can make it. But the banking system today works about as speedily as the Post Office.

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Breast Cancer Support Group to Liquidate

07/24/12

A Chicago breast-cancer charity that helped patients cope with the disease long before pink ribbons and celebrity advocates entered the picture has shut down and filed for bankruptcy liquidation.

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Eminent Domain: Eminently Suitable for Defaulted Loans

07/24/12

Use eminent domain to refinance unaffordable mortgages, cut through the mire of servicers, home equity investors and trustees. Protect homeownership and communities while respecting everyone's property rights.

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Binary Debates About Regulation Are Really Getting Tiresome

07/24/12

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Regulatory Reform Redux: The New Yorker's financial columnist, James Surowiecki, frames the Libor-rigging scandal as a textbook example of the financial industry's inability to regulate itself. Reputation risk has proven an insufficient incentive for bankers to behave, he writes; an "intrusive and overbearing" approach is "exactly what the financial industry needs." But Reuters' blogger Felix Salmon finds Surowiecki's new-sheriff-in-town prescriptions (jail time for fraudsters and preventive measures inspired by urban policing strategies)...

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The Daily Docket: Judge Endorses Tribune Plan

07/24/12

A bankruptcy judge Monday officially signed off on Tribune Co .’s Chapter 11 plan, endorsing final documents setting out the debt-for-equity swap that will make the media company property of hedge funds and banks. Read the Daily Bankruptcy Review article here.

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How to Win Over Potential Critics of New Financial Products

07/24/12

Consumer advocates, regulators and others are encouraged when companies take a "we want to design the best product" approach rather than a "we want to meet a minimum threshold" approach.

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The Awesome Pari Passu Hearing

07/24/12

The Second Circuit argument in NML v. Argentina was awesome--I was at the edge of my seat the whole time. My takeaway after the hearing is that even though Argentina got the brunt of the yelling, it would be relatively straightforward for the court to rule in its favor (after yelling some more).

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What are the Scope and Limitations of a Rule 2004 Examination?

07/23/12

Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 2004(a) states that "[o]n motion of any party in interest, the court may order the examination of any entity."  Courts construing Rule 2004(a) have found its scope "unfettered and broad."  In re Washington Mutual, Inc., 408 B.R. 45, 49 (Bankr. D. Del. 2009), citing In re Bennett Funding Group, Inc., 203 B.R. 24, 28 (Bankr. N. D. N.Y. 1996).  Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 2004(b) establishes some of the parameters of what is commonly referred to as a "Rule 2004 Examination":

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Would the Stress Tests Have Caught WaMu?

07/23/12

Recessions do not cause bank failures. It is banks causing booms that cause recessions that cause banks to fail.

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