Bankruptcy Blogs

Pressuring Iran Through Banks Could Have Dire Consequences

01/29/12

Under a recently-enacted law, Obama is to reduce Iranian oil revenue by punishing banks that make payments to Iran's central bank. This use of the payments system raises fundamental issues.

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Of Babies and Bucks

01/29/12

The Credit Slips bloggers are engaged in a virtual enterprise, which means we sometimes don't see each other for a long time. One of my fellow bloggers recently asked "What's up?" and learned that I had a new baby two months ago. That experience, along with trying to stem the tide of "I want it! I need it!" that comes with having two preschoolers during the holidays, has left me thinking about how we teach children about money, debt, and consumerism.

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Evaluating Mandatory Financial Education in Bankruptcy

01/28/12

In 2005, Congress amended bankruptcy law to require individual debtors with primarily consumer debts to complete an "instructional course on personal financial management" to be eligible to receive a discharge of their debts.

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The GM & Chrysler Success

01/28/12

During the State of the Union address, the President crowed about the success of the GM/Chrysler bailouts, noting that these companies were thriving again. An NPR program this evening was holding up GM/Chrysler as a beacon of hope for Kodak, as if bankruptcy were now the fountain of corporate youth.  

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Vee Haf Vays Uf Making You Pay!

01/28/12

Anna Gelpern's Gunboat Diplomacy post pretty much sums out the leaked German term sheet on Greece. I would only note one other thing--the highly idiosyncratic use of "absolute priority." The Germans seem to have taken the language of Chapter 11 and repurposed it, with absolute priority meaning foreign unsecured creditors get paid in full before anyone else sees a cent.

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Consumer Friendly Forms for Bankruptcy

01/28/12

In many respects, bankruptcy is a one-size-fits-all legal process. Yes, there are ample differences in the law (and a world of difference in practice) between the bankruptcy of a large corporation and a typical consumer. But the Bankruptcy Code itself contains plenty of provisions of general applicability. A major example of the one-size-fits-all approach to bankruptcy is the official forms for filing a case.

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Greek Gunboat Diplomacy Eupdate and More ECB/EFSF

01/28/12

Someone who wanted to be very mean to the Germans just leaked this document, where they manage to come off as both desperate and inept. The proposal purports to address Greek failure to meet program targets by installing an EU overlord, whose job it would be among other things to pay off the foreign bondholders before funding public services in Greece.

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Economic Recovery Depends on Robust Financial Market

01/27/12

The crisis understandably pushed the debate surrounding our global financial competitiveness to the back burner. The poor state of the U.S. economy, however, should provide the reason to renew this debate now.

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