CreditSlips

Waiting for RUFO

12/11/14

It looks like much of December will be spent sitting around the RUFO sickbed, waiting for the clause to expire of natural causes on December 31. The clause, recall, prevents Argentina from "voluntarily" giving holdout creditors a better deal than the one given to restructuring participants. When the RUFO clause expires, we will see whether country officials viewed it as a serious barrier to negotiation or, rather, as a

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For the Soul of the Party: the Budget Showdown and Financial Reform

12/10/14

Will we have an appropriations bill before a government shutdown? The fight over the 2015 Appropriations Bill is now focused on one of the non-appropriations measures stuck onto the bill by the House GOP. That provision would repeal section 716 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which prohibits bailouts of swap entities and pushes certain types of particularly risky swaps out of insured depositories. Section 716 might be thought of as the "Banks Aren't Casinos" provision of Dodd-Frank.

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What the ...?

12/10/14

Just received this month's ABI Journal. I surely can't be the only one who finds the ad for the BMC Group – inside the front cover – obnoxious, even offensive (I'm not going to dignify it by reproducing it). I get that sex sells ... but in a bankruptcy journal, advertising a claims agent?

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Why the World Hates Lawyers

12/09/14

Why does the world hate lawyers?  Because of stuff like this.  You can't make this up:  the on-line menu prices for a Chinese restaurant weren't up-to-date, and a customer was overcharged $4. I get being pissed about that.  But what would most people do?  Just lump it, stop patronizing the restaurant, ask the restaurant for a refund, or complain to the credit card issuer.

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What Qualifies an Investment Banker to be a Regulator?

12/04/14

As the Antonio Weiss nomination contest heats up, I'd like to pose a question that seems to be taken for granted by Weiss's supporters, namely that he's obviously qualified for the job.  As far as I can tell, Weiss's chief qualifications are that (1) he's an investment banker and (2) he's a major Obama donor, who (3) professes Progressive sympathies.

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Another Tribute to Jean Braucher: On the Lighter Side

12/03/14

Bob’s post made me cry. Jean was an incredible scholar and colleague. She also had a fun, light side that I will forever cherish, and that I share here. 

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Jean Braucher, In Memoriam

11/26/14

It is with great sadness that I pass along the news that Jean Braucher passed away yesterday. Jean was my co-author, my co-blogger, and my friend. This news came suddenly this morning for all but her closest family and friends who were aware of her illness. 

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