CreditSlips

Securitization Fail-Litigation Update

06/21/12

The wheels of litigation move slowly, but there are a couple of recent securitization fail litigation decisions that are worthy of note. First, in the Congress case, a wrongful foreclosure action in Alabama (see my previous blogging on it here), the Alabama appellate court reversed and remanded, a victory for the homeowner.

[more]

Pari Passu Argument Moved to July 18

06/20/12

Alas, we must slog through another month to find out how it ends. The NML v. Argentina argument in the Second Circuit was postponed at the eleventh hour. In other news, one of the panel members recused himself, also at the eleventh hour.

[more]

Arbitration Unconscionability Post-Concepcion

06/18/12

My Georgetown colleague Rebecca Tushnet has a great post about a recent Missouri Supreme Court ruling, Brewer v. Missouri Title Loans, holding that an arbitration agreement in an auto title loan was unconscionable.  The case is important because it says that post-AT&T v. Concepcion arbitration agreements are still vulnerable to attack on generally applicable contract law grounds.

[more]

Equity Financing of Higher Education

06/18/12

Luigi Zingales had an op-ed in the NY Times a few days back proposing equity financing of higher education combined with IRS collection of educational debt. Sound familiar? It should to Credit Slips readers.  I suggested the very same thing right here on this blog back in April. 

[more]

GM and Chrysler, Yet Again

06/15/12

A quick note about yesterday's editorial from Sherk and Zywicki. I'm loath to wade in yet again on this issue, as I doubt there would be any interest in these old bankruptcy cases if there were not an election looming.

But the Sherk and Zywicki argument is stated quite clearly, and merits comment:

[more]

GM, Chrysler and Ideologically Selective Bankruptcy Formalism

06/14/12

James Sherk and Todd Zywicki have an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that kvetches about the unfairness of the Chrysler and GM bankruptcies.  As one might expect, their complaint centers upon the contention that the senior lienholders in Chrysler get 29 cents on the dollar, while the UAW VEBA received a superior treatment despite holding a general unsecured claim.

[more]

Bankruptcy's Living History

06/13/12

The American College of Bankruptcy (ACB) in cooperation with the Biddle Law Library at the University of Pennsylvania has made available a great and often overlooked resource for scholars who prefer to study "law on the ground" instead of just the "law in the books." The National Bankruptcy Archives collects historical material regarding the development of bankruptcy, and

[more]

Right

06/11/12

Blackstone on Chase, via Bloomberg:

“Occasional losses are inevitable,” said Blackstone Group LP’s Stephen A. Schwarzman, 65, CEO of the largest private- equity firm. “Publicly excoriating JPMorgan serves no purpose except to reduce people’s confidence in the financial system.”

[more]

Making Banks Boring

06/11/12

Bloomberg has an editorial arguing that making banks boring won't prevent a crisis; only increasing bank capital will do so.  

[more]