As the federal government and private markets make progress to quell economic recession and stimulate the engines of financial growth, recent headlines from the commercial real estate industry have focused on certain developments, such as the proposed changes in rating agency methodologies and the repeated false starts with the government’s TALF and PPIP programs.
On Thursday, under pressure from the Obama administration, Chrysler and 24 of its wholly owned U.S. subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. None of Chrysler’s Mexican, Canadian or other international subsidiaries are part of the filing.
As required by the terms of the emergency assistance provided by Treasury last December, General Motors Corp.
The Federal Government has announced that September 18, 2009 has been established as the coming-into-force date for most of the remaining unproclaimed amendments to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) and Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA).
On November 1st, the Treasury Department provided an update regarding the federal government's involvement with AIG. AIG will use the proceeds from its sale of one unit and the IPO from a second to repay the loan extended to AIG by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and to repurchase a substantial amount of the FRBNY's preferred interests in certain AIG subsidiaries. AIG will then draw up to $22 billion in remaining Troubled Asset Relief Program funds from the Treasury Department to restructure its governmental obligations.
On October 12th, the FDIC published for comment proposed rules on how the agency would treat certain creditor claims under the new orderly liquidation authority established under the Dodd-Frank Act. The proposed rules bar any additional payments to holders of long-term senior debt, subordinated debt or equity interests that would result in those creditors recovering more than other creditors entitled to the same priority of payments under the law.
In 2009, there were 140 failed banks. So far this year, 16 more banks have been seized by the FDIC. There are 702 banks currently on the FDIC's troubled banks list, and regulators and analysts predict that several hundred of those likely will fail over the next two years.
There has been no shortage of victims in this financial crisis. Pensions and retirement savings have been severely reduced, jobs have been lost and once powerful financial institutions have failed. But, there is, perhaps, another victim that has largely gone unnoticed: the rule of law.
In his Evil Empire speech before the British House of Commons in June 1982, President Ronald Reagan refocused American political values on the rule of law.
On December 14, 2007, Bill C-12 was given Royal Assent. The Bill involves a comprehensive reform of Canada’s insolvency system. A key component of these reforms was the creation of the Wage Earner Protection Program (WEPP). The WEPP provides statutory wage protection for workers when a) their employer becomes bankrupt or subject to a receivership, and b) their employment is terminated as a result.