The High Court has extended a businessmans bankruptcy to last a total of 13 years after finding he had endeavoured to conceal his interest in a 5.5 million Dalkey property.

Godfrey Lalor, who once owned a property on Sorrento Road, Dalkey, Co Dublin, was adjudicated bankrupt in June 2016. A year later the official assignee to the bankrupts property filed a motion seeking to extend the bankruptcy on grounds of non-cooperation and failure to disclose assets.

In a recent judgement, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys extended Mr Lalors bankruptcy to June 2029. The normal term of bankruptcy is for one year, but this can be extended in cases of non-cooperation or non-disclosure of assets, he noted.

Mr Justice Humphreys said he believes to be justified the official assignees characterisation of Mr Lalors approach to the situation as catch me if you can. The judge also endorsed as correct, the official assignees assertion that it is essential for the integrity of the bankruptcy process that a bankrupts obligation to cooperate fully and disclose everything in relation to assets is strictly enforced.

The judge noted that Mr Lalor had sought to conceal his interest in the Monte Rosa property on Sorrento Road to prevent it being realised for the benefit of his creditors. Further, some of the evidence given by Mr Lalor under cross-examination was misleading, while he also had failed to co-operate with the courts previous July 2021 conclusion, Mr Justice Humphreys said.

The judge also found that Mr Lalors assertions of lack of control over relevant corporate assets and accounts were lacking in credibility in all of the circumstances.

Mr Justice Humphreys said that near total non-cooperation would presumably warrant a near maximum bankruptcy period, and these circumstances come into the top bracket of the full 15-year period. However, the judge said he had regard to any limited elements of information arguably supplied by Mr Lalor, as well as any arguably relevant circumstances, in setting the term at 13 years. Mr Justice Humphreys was finalising a 2019 decision made by Ms Justice Teresa Pilkington to extend in principle the bankruptcy term.

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Man who sought to conceal interest in 5m Dalkey property has bankruptcy extended - The Irish Times

KATIE Price has swerved her final bankruptcy hearing AGAIN as the court date has been pushed back to February 2022, The Sun can reveal.

The 43-year-old star was due to return to court before the end of the year to update trustees on paying back her debts - but the hearing has now been rescheduled.

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A source told us: "Katie was due in court next month but now the court date has been moved to Feb 2022 - which is disappointing for a lot of creditors."

The former glamour model was declared bankrupt in November 2019, and in August we revealed that she faces prison if she misses her next hearing.

After the 2019 ruling, Katie was supposed to pay off 12,000 a month to her creditors after taking out an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) - but failed to do so.

The next hearing is to review her attempts to pay back her hefty debts to creditors two years after going bust.

Katie owes a staggering 3.2 million to her creditors, but is unlikely to pay it all back.

The mother-of-five saw her once lucrative 45million media empire fall apart after the downfall of her third marriage to Kieran Hayler and the collapse of her businesses.

Exclusive

And earlier this year, Katie was hit with a repossession order for her 1.35million home after she failed to repay a debt of more than 500,000 on the property dubbed the Mucky Mansion.

She faces losing the house if she cannot stump up the cash to pay off her debtors before a repossession hearing.

A Land Registry search for the property reveals owner Katie owes money to both Kensington Mortgage Company and solicitor Archerfield Partners LLP.

It has been a difficult few months for Katie, who was admitted to rehab in September after pleading guilty to drink-driving while disqualified.

She was spared an immediate jail term despite flipping her BMW after a booze and drugs bender.

But she could still face jail when sentenced on December 15.

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Katie Price swerves final bankruptcy hearing AGAIN as court date is pushed back to February 2022... - The Sun

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losing an entire Tube line is among the options that Transport for London may have to consider as a result of its financial crisis, it has been revealed.

TfL finance chief Simon Kilonback said the failure to secure Government cash for long-term repairs and upgrades would have a disastrous impact on the capitals transport network.

Mr Kilonback told the TfL finance committee on Wednesday that TfL could be forced into the full closure of a line or part of a line or smaller reductions across the whole [Underground] network.

He did not name the line most likely to be closed but the Bakerloo and Jubilee lines are reportedly at risk.

The Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines could also be options due to lower passenger numbers and overlapping rail or Tube services.

DLR and London Overground services are also at risk, Heidi Alexander, the deputy mayor for transport, told the committee.

A blue sky future is unlikely for TfL

Mr Kilonback said there was a risk that TfL would have to issue a section 114 notice - effectively declaring itself bankrupt and handing responsibility for services back to the Government.

This would mean it would only commit to providing services required by law, such as school buses, taxi licensing, certain road repairs and the Woolwich ferry.

It would also be likely that TfL would seek to run only services where it made a profit, he suggested.

A video of the TfL meeting can be viewed here:

Mayor Sadiq Khan has requested an urgent meeting with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, but has yet to receive a reply.

TfL commissioner Andy Byford told the TfL finance committee there was less than three weeks to save TfL and the London recovery.

He said: I never thought I would say this but getting the Elizabeth line across the line seems a darn sight easier than trying to sort this one out.

TfL commissioner Andy Byford: Funding crisis is even worse than Crossrail

Mr Byford has written to the permanent secretary at the Department for Transport requesting the start of negotiations. He said he was desperate to avoid what happened in the last bail-out, when agreement was only reached with 11 minutes to go before the deal expired.

Passengers are also likely to face a bumper fares hike from the New Year. TfLs plans expect a rise of the RPI rate of interest plus one per cent.

This is likely to mean an extra five per cent on fares, though Mr Khan has the final decision.

TfL ticketing chief Shashi Verma said: This is the city with the highest public transport fares in the world to start off with.

Mr Kilonback said: I think we unfortunately face the situation we first faced back in May 2020, where we are going to have to consider what is required under statute, and say that under S114 of the local Government Finance Act we cannot see a way to balance the budget.

That requires us to commute all expenditure other than that which is required for statutory purposes, which are very limited in terms of the transport services we operate, and to continue to run things that contribute to getting out of the problem and to stop anything which makes the problem worse.

Whereas in the past, certainly the Tube and some of our rail services were covering their operating costs. That isnt the case today. This is not a threat. Its the reality of the statutory position we are in, given the lack of certainty over funding.

A TfL spokeswoman, asked whether Londons fares were the highest in the world, said: In London, 72 per cent of the operating costs of running the TfL network are covered completely by fares and another 14 per cent by other commercial revenues.

Other cities cover a much larger proportion of their costs from government subsidies or dedicated taxes.

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TfL crisis latest: entire Tube line may have to close and bankruptcy notice issued - Evening Standard

WITH a love triangle, an affair and doomed romances - who could have predicted Love Actually would become such an iconic Christmas film?

But the festive flick unites Brits around the country and millions of us gather around our TV screens to watch it every year.

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It's been 18 years since Love Actually was released and many have eagerly followed the careers of the actors who starred in it.

They include Thomas Brodie-Sangster - the child star who at 13 years old played lovestruck drummer boy Sam.

Fans were shocked when it was revealed that he's now 31 and reportedly dating Elon Musk's ex-wife, whom he divorced twice, Talulah Riley.

The pair co-star in Danny Boyle's upcoming Sex Pistols drama Pistol, where he plays popstar Malcolm McLaren and she takes on Vivienne Westwood.

Since Love Actually came out in 2003, Thomas has starred in everything from the Maze Runner series to Game Of Thrones and The Queen's Gambit - but what happened to his co-stars?

Here, we look at the fates of those behind one of Britain's all-time favourite Christmas flicks.

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Olivia stole the show when she sang Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You at just 11 years old.

Now the American actress is 29, living in LA, and you may have followed her on The X Factor: Celebrity, where she ended up coming 12th in 2019.

Olivia has also been part of the cast behind the animated series Adventure Time on Cartoon network, where she voices Marceline the Vampire Queen.

She has also worked on Disney's Phineas and Ferb, where she voices Vanessa Doofenshmirtz.

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German actress Heike Makatsch became one of the biggest villains of Christmas when her character Mia flirted with her married boss, Harry, played by the late Alan Rickman, in the movie.

One of the most emotional scenes saw Harry buy Mia a gold necklace, which his wife, Karen, played by Emma Thompson, thought was for her.

After flirty Mia, Heike played Leisel's mother in the movie version of The Book Thief in 2013.

Heike, 50, has had a string of high-profile romances. She previously dated James Bond star Daniel Craig and was married to actor Max Martin Schrder for 10 years.

She's in a relationship with actor Trystan Ptter and lives in Berlin.

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Lulu played Emma Thompson's daughter in Love Actually and famously dressed up as a lobster for her school nativity.

She was 12 years old when she appeared in the beloved Christmas flick but in recent years branded it "cheesy and sexist".

Speaking on the Almost Famous podcast,Lulu said: "I think it's a s**t film. I think it's aged badly. All the women in it are sort of passive objects."

The 30-year-old, who's now a comedian, was described as unrecognisable by fans of the 2003 film.

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In Love Actually, he was Kiera Knightley's doting husband Peter and was unknowingly caught in the middle of a love triangle.

While their marriage stayed intact, his best friend Mark, played by Andrew Lincoln, made a questionable attempt to seduce Kiera's character.

Since the 2010 film, Chiwetel took a role in Doctor Strange, starred as Scar in The Lion King remake and was the lead role of Solomon Northup in 12 Years A Slave.

The latter landed him Best Actor nominations at the Golden Globes, The Oscars and a winning nomination at the BAFTAS.

One of the most memorable scenes from the film sees Andrew's character Mark express his love to Juliet via some cardboard signs outside her house.

Whilst she ran out and kissed him, the pair don't get together and Juliet stays married to his best friend.

Since his tragic storyline in Love Actually, Andrew's career has boomed, starring in AMC series The Walking Dead as sheriff deputy Rick Grimes.

While he didnt get his fairytale ending in Love Actually, he did in real life.

In June 2006, three years after the heartwarming film was released, he married Gael Anderson. They have two children, Matilda, 14, and Arthur, 11.

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Joanna, who played the character 'Just Judy', was one half of the loveably awkward duo that stood in for sex scenes in a porn film, alongside Martin Freeman.

After Love Actually, she went on to appear in everything from Midsomer Murders to Nativity 2: Danger In The Manger and Doctor Who.

But she's best-known for starring as Stacey Shipman in the hit BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey, which ran from 2007 until 2010. A Christmas special was released in 2019.

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Former EastEnders star Martine was memorable in Love Actually as the cheerful Downing Street staff member who swore at Hugh Grant's Prime Minister but ended up winning his heart.

Martine has since proved her talents off the screen on the stage, winning an Olivier for her role as Eliza in My Fair Lady in the West End.

While she endeared herself to millions as Natalie, sadly Martines career after Love Actually hasn't been as easy.

The 45-year-old has struggled to land big parts in any major show or film and has only had a few small parts in TV shows.

Shes made appearances on Celebrity Gogglebox and more recently The Masked Singer UK, but she hasnt had anything as high profile as Love Actually.

Martine has also been a panellist on Loose Women, alongside the likes of Katie Price, Andrea McLean, Nadia Swahala and Ruth Langsford.

She has been married to singer Jack McManus since 2012 and has a six-year-old son, Rafferty.

But she hasn't had an easy time of it, having to file for bankruptcy in 2013, and openly struggling with her health, suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia.

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In Love Actually she broke hearts while playing workaholic Sarah, who aside from her busy schedule had to take care of her mentally ill brother.

An outburst from her sibling prematurely ended a saucy moment of passion between Laura's character and ripped actor Rodrigo Santoro.

Since then, she spent a year on the US comedy Frasier, starred in American Dad! and has acted in dark drama Ozark since 2017.

Despite not sharing any scenes together, Laura and Liam Neeson are close friends in real life and he even walked her down the aisle for her wedding in May 2009.

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Brazillian actor Rodrigo Santoro's romance with Sarah, played by Laura Linney, sadly came to nothing in the film - but since then he has played a number of big parts.

He was unrecognisable after shaving off his hair to play 'god' Xerxes in the 2006 action flick 300 and also starred as Paulo in Lost.

Recently, Rodrigo played Westworld's 'most wanted' bandit Hector Escaton and he starred in Boundless, a drama about two men who sailed around the world 500 years ago.

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Lucia played Colin Firth's housekeeper turned love interest, Aurelia, in Love Actually.

Towards the end of the film, he won her heart in a hilariously bumbling scene where the writer tried and often misspoke Portuguese.

Since then Lucia has starred in a number of TV series and films back in Portugal.

January played Jeannie, one of the attractive American girls that sex-obsessed Colin (Kris Marshall) bumps into in Wisconsin.

She was the ringleader of the group of girls who fell for his English accent and charms.

A few years later in 2007, she was cast as Betty Draper in Mad Men, which ran until 2015 and is regarded as one of the best television dramas ever made.

The role saw January nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in Television Series Drama and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Alan was already an acting legend when he starred in Love Actually alongside Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant.

He had already taken on the iconic role of Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise, and had previously starred in Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Sense and Sensibility.

Alan played the character of Harry, a successful director of a design agency, who cheats on his wife Karen with his young, pretty secretary Mia.

Alan couldn't have been more different from his on-screen loverat character in real life, happily married to former Labour Party councillor Rima Horton after meeting in their late teens.

Tragically, Alan passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2016 at the age of 69, having won a Bafta, Emmy, a Golden Globe and a SAG during a glittering career.

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What happened to Love Actually cast Daniel Craig romance, bankruptcy, tragic death and rant over s*** &... - The Sun

Pop group Westlife are set to take over the Loose Women panel today to celebrate the release of their new album, Wild Dreams.

Just a week after Vernon Kays Loose Men special, the hit ITV daytime show will temporarily rebrand itself as Loose Life as band members Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily host a one-off special.

The regular Loose Women will interview the group before handing over the reins for a quarter of the show.

READ MORE: Where the Great British Bake Off winners are now from Strictly Come Dancing to baking for the Queen

But when did Westlife get back together and who is the bands richest member? Heres everything you need to know.

While Westlifes exact net worth isnt known, it is currently estimated to be around $22 million, with Kian Egan reported to be the bands richest member, according to internet reports.

Forming in 1998, Westlife went on to become one of the top-selling boybands of all time, alongside Take That and Boyzone.

Until their split in 2012, Westlife sold more than 55 million records across the world, releasing 13 albums and going on 12 world tours.

However, in 2012, lead singer Shane Filan was left devastated after his property development company Shafin Developments went bust, leaving him with debts reportedly amounting to 18 million.

Shane was declared bankrupt at Kingston county court in Surrey a month after his company collapsed.

Six years later, Shanes wife Gillian was also declared bankrupt in relation to joint loans she shared with her husband.

Shanes fellow band member Nicky has spoken about Westlifes fortunes in the past, telling the Irish Independent: We have all lost money.

We were all very foolish with money in the early days, we all bought cars and watches - the silly things.

We did very well out of Westlife but everybody lives and spends. In the early days we earned great money, and in the latter days it was all gone.

On October 19, 2011, Westlife announced that they would be splitting after one final album and tour.

In a statement, they described the split as amicable, and explained that they wanted to have a well-earned break and look at new ventures.

On October 3, 2018, Westlife announced on social media that they would be reuniting to release new music and go on tour.

The band released Spectrum in 2019, with the comeback album going on to reach number one and become the fastest selling album of the year in Ireland.

Tickets for Westlifes upcoming Wild Dreams 2022 tour are now on sale.

Loose Life, a one-off Loose Women special, airs on Friday, November 26 at 12.30pm on ITV and ITV Hub

Stay abreast of the latest on days out, nights out, shopping and more with our Daily What's On Email updates.

Read more:

Where Westlife are now from breakup and bankruptcy to successful comeback - Birmingham Live

The potential for Chinas Evergrande Group to finally go bankrupt is still high despite recent progress made in selling assets and paying down debts, analysts and commentators say.

The Shenzhen-based property developer saw its contracted sales collapse by about 90% year-on-year in September and October, the traditional high sales season for Chinese property markets.

The company also suffered from a property market down cycle where 21 lower-tier cities, where most of Evergrandes property projects are situated, announced market-intervening measures last month to limit price reductions. Those caps are reportedly contributing to Evergrandes cash-flow problems by reducing its ability to slash prices to facilitate sales.

At the same time, a 2.8 billion Evergrande share stake worth about US$1 billion, appeared in Hong Kongs Central Clearing and Settlement System (CCASS) last Friday, indicating that company chairman Hui Ka-yan may be pledging part of his stake as collateral for loans, media reported.The stake was reported to CCASS by Haitong International Securities Co.

Hui and his wife own more than 76.69% of Evergrandes outstanding shares. On October 8, Hui, through Xin Xin (BVI) Limited,pledged 500 million Evergrande shares to a third party by providing share rights as a guarantee to persons other than qualified lenders. On October 12, Haitongs CCASS holdings in Evergrande increased by 500 million shares.

Evergrande has faced a liquidity shortage since its plan to go public in Shanghai was scrapped last year. Chinese financial regulators also announced three red lines to forbid heavily indebted property developers from borrowing money from banks until they lower their gearing ratios.

With worse-than-expected contract sales in the first half, Evergrande failed to pay for the construction of many of its real estate projects. The suspension of construction sent Evergrande into a vicious cycle in which the company could not generate revenue to pay creditors and holders of its wealth management products.

Between September 23 and October 11, Evergrande failed to pay interest of $276.5 million to global investors who hold its bonds. The company finally made payments by the end of the 30-day grace period to avoid an immediate default. It was reported that Hui settled the payments with his own funds.

Evergrande will be removed from the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) from December 6, according to a statement released by the Hang Seng Indexes Co Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hang Seng Bank, last Friday.

On November 17, Evergrandes weighting in the HSCEI was only 0.07%, compared with Meituans 9.41%, Tencents 8.47% and Alibabas 7.98%. Evergrandes shares fell 1.08% at HK$2.75 on Monday. They are down 83% from HK$16.28 a year ago.

Meanwhile, credit rating agencies continue to issue warnings. S&P Global Ratings said in a recent research report that Evergrandes debt crisis had not yet ended and that the bigger test would come when $3.5 billion comes due for US dollar-denominated notes in March and April next year.

We still believe an Evergrande default is highly likely, said analysts at S&P Global Ratings. The firm has lost the capacity to sell new homes, which means its main business model is effectively defunct. This makes full repayment of its debts unlikely.

On September 3, Evergrande said its contracted sales decreased 26% to 38.08 billion yuan ($4.89 billion) in August from a year ago. It said its August sales included amounts offset through the sales of property units to suppliers and contractors.

In the first eight months of this year, the companys contracted sales fell 2.7% to 438.65 billion yuan from the same period in 2020.

Although the company did not announce its contracted sales in September and October, it could have only generated revenue of 17 billion yuan in September and 2.9 billion yuan in October from property sales, according to China Index Academy, a Beijing-based real estate data provider. The combined revenue in the two months was down 89% from the same period of 2020.

Last month, Evergrande tried to replenish its foreign exchange by offering to sell its Hong Kong headquarters building in Wan Chai district to Chinese state-owned Yuexiu Property for $1.7 billion. But Yuexiu Property pulled out of the deal, fearing that Evergrandes debt problems would undermine the transaction.

On October 20, Evergrande said it had scrapped its plan to sell a 50.1% stake in Evergrande Property Services Group to Hopson Development Holdings. The deal, if it had gone through, could have provided Evergrande net cash of HK$20 billion ($2.57 billion) on October 12.

On November 16, China Business News, or Yicai.com, reported that Hui had personally injected 7 billion yuan into his company since July 1. The report said that Hui had already sold three luxury apartments in Hong Kong and several private jets, and planned to sell two more luxury flats in Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

On the same day, the company announced that it had agreed to sell all of its remaining 18% stake in HengTen Networks Group, which operates an online video platform, for HK$2.13 billion, or HK$1.28 per share, to a company owned by mainland investor Li Shaoyu. The selling price represented a 24% discount on the closing price of the Hong Kong-listed HengTen on November 17.

Prior to this, Evergrande had already sold a 19.55% stake in HengTen for HK$4.37 billion. Shares of HengTen had gained 72% to close at HK$2.9 on Monday from November 17.

On November 20, Yicai.com, a Chinese financial news media, said more and more lower-tier Chinese cities were facing a down cycle in their property markets.

Since October 12, at least 21 local governments in third and fourth-tier cities, including Shenyang and Kunming, have launched new measures to forbid property developers from cutting their selling prices by more than 15% from market levels. When selling flats in the same building, developers are not allowed to cut prices by more than 5% from the previous quarter.

Zhang Bo, chief analyst at 58 Anjuke Institute, a research unit of the property marketplace Anjuke.com, said property prices in lower-tier cities had fallen rapidly in recent months, forcing local governments to limit price cuts. Zhang said many local property developers wanted to replenish their cash flow by offering discounts to homebuyers, creating a huge price pressure on the markets.

Zhang added that some property developers paid their contractors in property units due to a lack of cash. He said these contractors then sold these apartments to homebuyers at big discounts, adding more price pressure on the markets. Fortunately, he said, these price pressures had not yet spread to the first and second-tier cities.

It is still unclear whether Evergrande would be able to boost its contracted sales or sell more assets in the coming few months. On October 22, Hui said in an internal meeting that the companys annual property sales would be gradually reduced to 200 billion yuan within the coming decade from 700 billion yuan in the past.

He said Evergrande would allocate more resources to its e-vehicle businesses in the next 10 years.

Read: Evergrande staves off default with dollar bond payment

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Evergrande's bankruptcy still just a matter of time - Asia Times

NEW DELHI :Representatives of foreign creditors could be in charge of distributing the local assets of defaulting Indian companies in cases where an Indian tribunal recognizes overseas bankruptcy proceedings under New Delhis proposed cross-border insolvency regime.

New rules to be framed under a proposed section in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) would allow local courts to entrust foreign creditors representatives to distribute these assets once it is satisfied that the interests of creditors in India are adequately protected. This would be one of the benefits to be granted to overseas creditors under the cross-border insolvency regime, said a person familiar with the matter.

Foreign creditors would get this right irrespective of whether the overseas proceeding gets recognized as the main bankruptcy proceedings or as non-main proceedings. If the overseas legal action is recognized as the main proceeding, there would also be a moratorium on other recovery action in India by creditors.

The new section will also apply to Indian lenders requiring assistance in another country for their IBC proceedings against Indian businesses and corporate guarantors with overseas assets. This would be a major shot in the arm for lenders fighting promoters who shift funds out of the company by manipulating books. One key corporate governance challenge for regulators and lenders is the diversion of funds from a company with public interest to a firm closely held by major shareholders.

Whenever a notice is to be issued to creditors of a defaulter, overseas creditors will also be kept in the loop. The government is conducting public consultation till 15 December before a bill for further amending the IBC is placed before Parliament.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), the regulator, would make regulations under the new regime for a principle-based, light-touch code of conduct for the representatives of foreign creditors. It will also provide for investigation and disciplinary action against misconduct by foreign representatives.

The proposed new part of the IBC to deal with the failure of businesses with assets and liabilities in multiple markets marks a major improvement in the scope of IBC. This is a much-awaited requirement that will strengthen the insolvency resolution regime in India, experts said.

Being part of the global economy and trade, it is only justifiable that we adopt the international framework widely used by more than 50 countries with appropriate amendments. It is proposed to cover corporate borrowers and personal guarantors and this will help in global asset tracing and recoveries for Indian creditors," said Ashish Chhawchharia, resolution professional and partner at Grant Thornton Bharat.

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Foreign creditors may soon be in charge of defaulting Indian companies assets - Livemint

John Blanchfield| Guest columnist

Reading about the recent passing of Professor Neil Harl caused me to reflect back on my 40 years in agricultural banking, 25spent at the American Bankers Association in Washington. While Professor Harls obituary mentioned his involvement in the farm debt crisis of the 1980s, it failed to mention what was perhaps his most lasting achievement, creation by Congress in 1986 of a special chapter of bankruptcy for family farmers know as Chapter 12.

Professor Harl created the intellectual framework that allowed members of Congress to envision how such a provision could work. He recognized early on that farmers, after being hit by a triple whammy in the early 1980s; high interest rates, the resulting collapse of farm asset values, and the collapse of commodity prices following the Russian Grain Embargo in 1980, that many of them had more debt than they could ever repay. Farmers who were going out of business in the Heartland at an alarming rate. Farmers were committing suicide. Open conflict developed between farmers and their bankers, and in some cases bankers were murdered. A full-blown crisis had developed.

More: Wendy Wintersteen: Neil Harl's distinctive voice will echo at Iowa State

More: Neil Harl, ISU economist and lawyer who pushed to save farms during 1980s crisis, dies at 88

Being an attorney, Professor Harl was very aware that large businesses were able to reorganize their operations by utilizing Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy code. By reorganizing, they were able to get debt written off, repayment terms lengthened, and in some cases interest rates lowered. Many businesses during the 1970s and 1980s successfully used Chapter 11, or the threat of filing bankruptcy to bring their creditors and their suppliers to the table to negotiate a reorganization plan. Chrysler was perhaps the most famous example at the time with a threat to go into bankruptcy in 1979 resulting in federal assistance that helped them continue as a going concern.

While farmers at the time had the option of filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Professor Harl and others recognized that it was far too expensive and far too time consuming for a family farmer to successfully reorganize under Chapter 11. He came up with the idea of a special chapter of the US Bankruptcy code specifically for family farmers (family fishermen were included in the enabling legislation).

Features of the legislation included a lower cost of filing, a court appointed trustee, a promise of a rapid turnaround, a requirement that those filing were indeed family farmers as evidenced by a cap on total debt and how much debt came from their farming operation. The most potent feature of the legislation was a cramdown provision that allowed the farmer to argue, in court, what the current market value of the farm was and if that number was lower than the debt owed against it, the court had the power to order the unsecured portion of the debt to be written off.

Understandably the cramdown provision was the bone that stuck in the throats of all those who had loaned money to farmers that was secured by their real estate. Despite the objection of the banking industry, Congress pushed ahead with the legislation and it went into effect on Nov.26, 1986. Over the years Chapter 12 has been expanded. In addition, Chapter 12 was supposed to sunset at a particular date, but that too was removed, and 35years after enactment Chapter 12 is still on the books.

Chapter 12 never lived up to the hype that surrounded it when it was debated and when it became law. It did help some farmers successfully reorganize and continue farming. But the promise that it would get farmers into and out of Bankruptcy Court quickly never materialized. On the bankersside, the cramdown provision did result in some real losses. As a result, Chapter 12 might have made it harder for some farmers to get credit because some bankers were loath to consider deals that were less than perfect. But over time, bankers overcame their fears and today the banking industry has over 50% of the farm credit market.

So, given the uneven success that Chapter 12 has had, why were Professor Harls contributions so pivotal in helping to settle the farm credit crisis of the 1980s? With the creation of Chapter 12, farmers and their lenders were driven to seek solutions before and/or without going to court. The existence of Chapter 12 brought both parties to the table. These table top bankruptcies enabled bankers and their customers to come to terms knowing that failure to do so would end up with both parties in court, with the knowledge that Chapter 12 was a huge pain to deal with. Shortly after Chapter 12 was enacted, the USDA, Farmers Home Administration began voluntarily writing down debt that was uncollectable. While lender losses were great at the time, Professor Harls contribution was that he unblocked the farm debt logjam. By finally coming to terms with the fact that much farm debt from that period was uncollectable, the agricultural credit system thawed and the farm economy recovered.

Finally, Professor Harl was instrumental in de-stigmatizing farm bankruptcy. The literature of the 1980s farm debt crisis in filled with stories about farmer suicides and banker killings. By removing the stigma of business reorganization, many farmers were able to successfully continue their operations or, at least, exit from farming with something. In either case, lives were saved and for that we owe a huge debt to Neil E. Harl.

John Blanchfield directed the Center for Agricultural and Rural Banking at the American Bankers Association in Washington, DC for 25 years.

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Opinion: In appreciation of Neil E. Harl making farm credit work for everybody - Ames Tribune

AS the saying goes where theres muck, theres brass.

And it took a whole lot of sh*t-shovelling and graft for Milton Harris to dig himself out of bankruptcy hell and rebuild his training career.

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Now he has a lively contender for the 250,000 Ladbrokes Trophy in Danny Whizzbang, who can continue a remarkable rise in fortunes for west country-based Harris.

Winners at Cheltenham and Aintree this season have put his team back on the map after a torrid spell.

The 62-year-old, who had amassed 172 winners over a ten-year career, declared himself bankrupt in 2011 and had his licence taken away.

He tried and failed on two occasions to be let back into the training ranks.

Only after a seven-year spell in the dark did the BHA finally relent and Harris made the move from the Cotswolds to his new home in Warminster, Wiltshire with just two members of staff and a handful of moderate horses.

He said: It has been hard work. The staff rode the horses and I mucked out every box on my own.

It wasnt easy, I was doing the dirty work every day as we had no choice.

It was a tricky time, I wouldnt want to go there again. It was hard for me personally, emotionally and financially.

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You wouldnt have wished it on your enemy.

But you try not to let it knock you down. You have to get up and get on with it.

Did I do some things wrong? Yes. I have no bitterness towards the BHA as they have a thankless task, but sometimes you do question whether its something else youve done.

Having spent so long on the sidelines, the comeback was never going to be straightforward. Was Harris always planning to get back in the game?

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Oh God, yes, he answered before the question was close to being finished.

I was always going to come back, the only reason I wouldnt have was if the BHA didnt let me. I never went away, I stayed in the industry as much as I could. I managed horses for a few people, but it wasnt rewarding, especially not financially. I was struggling.

I never left the industry but people do forget about you and it wasnt easy getting back into the swing of things.

Already on 28 winners for the campaign, Harris is a shoo-in to beat his previous best of 32 with more than five months of the season to run.

Stable star Knight Salute has already notched a Grade 2 at Cheltenham and his trainer thinks hes the real deal, with Aintree winner Legionar another youngster he has high praise for.

After what hes been through, most would be satisfied with a full yard of horses and a growing team, but Harris wants more. He said: Weve got 52 stables and were full, we have about 60 in with a few in the fields and what not. But it wasnt always like that, far from it.

Im very grateful, Im a hardy b*****d, but Im grateful for where we are and thats only possible because of loyalty and working bloody hard.

In my last full season before the ban I finished 22nd in the championship, out of about 650 which I would say is in the Premier League the relegation zone!

2

Now were back in that position, Id like to think, but weve got to get ourselves in Europe as they say. Thats hard with the horses we have, we dont pay a lot of money for the ones in but were doing our best to get there.

The phone is ringing a hell of a lot more, that wouldnt have happened 18 months ago.

Its lovely, but you cant lose sight of the fact you need to train winners the bubble can quickly burst, as we know.

Danny Whizzbang was bought cheaply from Paul Nicholls and will make his first start for Harris in the Newbury feature.

A Grade 2 winner at the track, hes no lost cause and the Harris horses could not be in better form. The trainer said: He was 50-1 when the race first came out, now hes shortened up into about 33-1 and I expect hell be about 25-1 before the off.

I have a feeling he might be the kind of horse to catch fresh. I feel like while the horses are healthy we have to have a shot.

Hes not a sexy workhorse, but boy hes fit, his blood count is perfect and were going to put a bit of headgear on him.

Paul is a good friend of mine. Youre never going to improve one of his massively so we need to try and change something. A change of scenery can sometimes be enough to do the trick.

To even have a runner in a race like this is something. God forbid he runs a good race!

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Trainer hit with bankruptcy and forced to muck out completes remarkable comeback with Cheltenham and... - The Sun

A departing Avianca Airlines flight is seen on the tarmac during the reopening ceremony at the Mons. Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador September 19, 2020. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas/File Photo

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BOGOTA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Airline Avianca Holdings, which is in the process of finishing a restructuring process under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is to offer around 100 pilots who left the company following a strike in 2017 the chance to rejoin the company, it said on Thursday.

"Without doubt, today we mark a milestone in our history and this is a golden opportunity to start from scratch, to strengthen teamwork and build the Avianca we all need," said the company's chief executive and president, Adrian Neuhauser.

The airline struggled with a 51-day pilots' strike between September and November 2017, grounding half its fleet and resulting in dozens of pilots being fired, while others resigned or were pensioned off.

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The plan will permit the airline to operate more than 200 direct routes with its fleet of more than 130 aircraft by 2025, it said.

The pilots who return to Avianca will do so under the same conditions that were agreed with pilots in 2020, while the company plans to start a training program that exceeds the requirements of aeronautical regulations.

Avianca filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after being battered by the coronavirus pandemic. A court in the United States approved the company's restructuring plan in November.

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Reporting by Luis Jaime AcostaWriting by Oliver GriffinEditing by Jonathan Oatis

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Avianca to reoffer jobs to around 100 pilots amid restructuring - Reuters

Are Democrats serious about confronting the impending collapse of Social Security and Medicare? It sure doesnt seem so.

Instead of focusing on the looming bankruptcy of these programs, Democrats are pushing to spend $4-$5 trillion on a progressive wish-list of expensive new federal giveaways. Perhaps they believe that promising voters free college, free child care, free elder care and so much more will distract them from realizing that our most important safety nets are falling into disrepair.

Moreover, President Biden and congressional Democrats want to significantly hike taxes to pay for shiny new entitlements. But taxpayers are already facing big hits just to maintain the ones we already have.

This week, the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare programs released their annual reports; the news is not good.

The bottom line: Both funds are running out of money, faster than expected. Both Medicare and Social Security will need to be propped up, the sooner the better. Specifically:

The date of projected insolvency for these entitlements moved closer over the past year; the proposed remedies from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) become more draconian as time goes on.

In other words, the longer we wait to shore up these programs, the stiffer the increases in taxes will have to be or the fewer the number of retirees who can count on receiving benefits.

To achieve long-term solvency for Social Security, the CRFB advises, would require a 27 percent hike in the payroll tax today; if legislators dont act until 2034, when the program will be broke, that payroll tax hike will be 34 percent.

That is, even if Congress acts today, the increase in the deduction from a workers wages will be more than three percentage points; if they wait, it will be over 4 percentage points. Thats a major hit to paychecks.

The other approach is to cut retiree benefits. The CRFB estimates that, Social Security solvency could be achieved with a 21 percent across-the-board benefit cut today, which would rise to 26 percent by 2034. Cuts to new beneficiaries would need to be 25 percent today, but eveneliminatingbenefits for new beneficiaries in 2034 would not be enough to avoid insolvency.

Is anyone listening?

The alarming reports were greeted with silence from the left, including from Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersBriahna Joy Gray pushes back on moderates faulting Sanders voters for Supreme Court makeup Manchin warns Democrats: Hit 'pause' on Biden's .5T plan Warren to campaign for Newsom ahead of California recall MORE (I-Vt.), head of the Budget Committee and author of the $3.5 trillion social infrastructure bill that Democrats hope to pass via reconciliation. Apparently, for Sanders and his progressive colleagues, new programs are better than the old ones, even though most Americans rely on Social Security and Medicare.

In fact, in July, Sanders and Sen. Chris Van HollenChristopher (Chris) Van HollenProgressive pollster: 65 percent of likely voters would back polluters tax Senate backlog of Biden nominees frustrates White House We need a national green bank to build the green economy MORE (D-Md.) introduced a bill that would exacerbate Social Securitys financial problems. According to the Maryland senators website, the proposed legislation would extend Social Security benefits to age 26 for students who are survivors, children of disabled workers, and eligible grandchildren of retired workers.

While it is true that benefits are paid to children or workers who have died young or who are disabled, Social Security was not intended to support young people through college, as is the purpose of Sanderss and Van Hollens bill. Given the current projections reported by the trustees, adding to the demands on the programs finances is reckless.

In the same vein, Sanders wants to lower the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 60 or 55 and to expand coverage to include dental and vision outlays. He proposes paying for these changes by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices with drug companies.

Studies have shown that lowering the eligibility age to 60 would cost as much as $100 billion per year, while a 2019 plan to add vision and dental coverage was estimated to cost $350 over 10 years. Estimates of savings from Medicare negotiating drug prices totally some $500 trillion over 10 years do not come close to covering the added costs.

Earlier this year President Biden fired Andrew Saul, a business executive who was commissioner of the Social Security Administration. Saul worked under both Republican and Democratic presidents, initially as chair of the Federal Thrift Investment Board, where he modernized the organization that provides retirement savings plans for military and federal employees. The Republican got such high marks for his stewardship that the federal employees unions backed his reappointment by President ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaChanging Joe Biden's mind is no easy task What Trump understood and Biden gets right about America's new role in the world FEMA has funds to cover disasters for now MORE.

Biden fired Saul not because he was doing a bad job, but apparently because he was doing a good job cutting down on fraud and waste in an effort to make the Social Security Administration more efficient, even as he improved services to clients. Biden has not nominated a successor to Saul, despite Social Security being the largest single item in our federal budget. And that is how serious Democrats are.

Liz Peek is a former partner of major bracket Wall Street firm Wertheim & Company. Follow her on Twitter @lizpeek.

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Spendthrift Democrats ignore looming bankruptcy of Social Security and Medicare | TheHill - The Hill

Henrico-based electronics retailer Circuit City had around 700 stores at its peak. (BizSense file photos)

The plug is finally expected to be pulled on the unwinding of Circuit City Stores Inc.

The liquidation of the long-since collapsed Henrico-based electronics retailer appears to be coming to a close, nearly 13 years to the day from when it toppled into bankruptcy on Nov. 10, 2008.

Motions were filed earlier this summer for an entry of a final decree and the trusts final report, which typically indicates a bankruptcy estates work is done and theres nothing more to recover for creditors.

Circuit City had 17,000 creditors with debt claims of $1.2 billion when its liquidation began.

In the end, the trust paid out $778.65 million in claims, amounting to 55 cents on the dollar owed to unsecured creditors.

I am pleased with this distribution given the predicted 16 percent recovery at the time of confirmation, trustee Alfred Siegel said in court filings.

Siegel said he anticipates no further distributions.

Accordingly, in my business judgment, I have determined that it is appropriate to terminate the trust and seek a final decree and closure of these cases, he said.

Circuit Citys former headquarters were located in this building.

While Siegel is pleased with the result for creditors, the dozens of professionals who helped administer the case over the years also collected their share from the estate.

A total of $212.42 million was paid out over the 13 years to lawyers, accountants, financial advisors, real estate advisors and the like.

The biggest chunk of professional fees went Texas law firm Susman Godfrey, which earned $46 million representing the Circuit City trustee in ultimately lucrative class action disputes against electronics manufacturers related to price fixing.

Other top payouts to professionals included: $10.66 million to Siegels firm, California-based A. Siegel & Associates; $44 million to Pachulski, Stang, Ziehl & Jones, the law firm that has represented Siegel along the way; $10.69 million to law firm Brutzkus Gubner; and $12.91 million to Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern.

The top Richmond-based beneficiary was downtown law firm Tavenner & Beran, which earned $5.62 million over the course of the case.

Circuit Citys afterlife has lasted so long due to a number of factors, including the size and complexity of the company. At the time of its collapse it had hundreds of stores, tens of thousands of employees, various foreign affiliates, and a web of creditors.

The price fixing class action case, which helped win cash for the estate, also held up the process, as did the separate bankruptcy of Circuit Citys Canadian affiliate.

It also took a couple of years just to get the estate and creditors to agree to a formal plan of liquidation.

Across 13 years the case resulted in 14,000 docket entries, all with the same judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Huennekens at the federal courthouse in Richmond.

Circuit City employees at an alumni reunion.

The case has gone on long enough that former Circuit City employees had time to gather to recognize the 10thanniversary of the companys collapse.

The drawn out case also attracted claims traders, a somewhat obscure group in the financial world who gamble on how much money will be found in a bankruptcy case by buying debt claims on spec from original creditors.

At one point a few years ago the three largest claims holders in the case were claims traders, owed a combined $450 million.

Circuit Citys bankruptcy initially had outlasted that of former Henrico-based title insurance giant LandAmerica Financial Group, which went bankrupt a few weeks after Circuit City in 2008. LandAmericas case was closed out in seemingly successful fashion in late 2016, only to be reopened in 2019 after it was found trustee Bruce Matson looted the trusts $3 million wind-down fund.

Matson is now facing a potential federal prison sentence.

The last remaining piece before Siegel fully turns out the lights on the Circuit City estate is a high-level legal dispute over fees paid to the U.S. Trustees Office, a disagreement that could be taken up by the Supreme Court.

While the potential resolution of that dispute is not expected to result in additional money for creditors materially, the trust said it is holding the Circuit City estate open until it is decided whether the Supreme Court will hear the case. That decision is expected in November.

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Circuit City bankruptcy headed for conclusion after nearly 13 years - RichmondBizSense

An upstart company that tried to take on The Villages has filed for bankruptcy after a crushing court defeat earlier this year.

KD Premier Realty LLC has filed a petition for relief under Title 11, Chapter 7 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida.

The company was founded by Christopher Day and Jason Kranz, two former top producers for Properties of The Villages. While each of the sales representatives was earning $500,000 annually, and Kranzs wife was also earning six figures selling homes for The Villages, the two men began to chafe under the strict rules imposed by the sales organizations.

Christopher Day and Jason Kranz launched KD Premier Realty after leaving Properties of The Villages.

They broke free in December 2019 and sent a bombshell email to all of their Properties of The Villages colleagues and Villages Vice President of Sales Jennifer Parr, announcing their immediate departure. Day and Kranz lured away some of their Properties of The Villages colleagues over to KD Premier Realty, including Angie Taylor, who has also filed for bankruptcy protection.

Earlier this year in a federal trial in Tampa, The Villages won a $603,700 judgment against Day, Kranz and his wife Angela, Taylor and former Properties of The Villages sales representative Nanette Elliott, who recalled at the trial being presented with a ring by the Gary Morse in recognition for her outstanding sales performance.

Properties of The Villages is seeking to garnish the assets of their former sales representatives in an attempt to collect the $603,700 judgment.

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Upstart company files for bankruptcy after trying to compete with The Villages - Villages-News

When Washington Prime Group went bust in June, the mall operator's bankruptcy judge was almost certain the case would culminate in a spreadsheet-ridden valuation brawl.

It was a surprise, then, when U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur signed off on the real estate investment trust's Chapter 11 exit plan on Friday, Sept. 3, without any creditors sniping over future cash flows, piecemeal asset sales or competing deals. His approval means investment firm SVPGlobal will swap its debt holdings for ownership of the company, and stockholders will even see a recovery, despite no one knowing quite what Washington Prime is worth.

Columbus-based Washington Prime has a portfolio of some 100 shopping centers across the U.S., sporting a mix of fully enclosed malls and open-air centers. The company's website indicates it has nine malls in Ohio, including Great Lakes Mall in Mentor and Southern Park Mall in Youngstown.

The varied bag of brick-and-mortar retail assets mixed with the uncertainty of a global pandemic created a difficult, if not impossible, task for valuation experts.

"Do you think anyone has confidence in the valuation?" Isgur asked an attorney for Washington Prime stockholders in court on Friday.

"I don't think anybody really knows, and the market will tell us soon enough," the attorney, Robert Stark of Brown Rudnick, said in response.

Rather than force Isgur to rule on what a reasonable valuation might be a process that would likely be lengthy, expensive and uncertain itself lawyers for Washington Prime and its stakeholders settled their differences prior to the hearing on Friday. A handful of remaining objections were resolved during the scheduled hearing time.

While ruling on Washington Prime's plan, Isgur noted that even though no one knows what the mall owner is truly worth, the deal leaves creditors better off than the alternative: liquidation. That's the only valuation test required by U.S. bankruptcy rules, he said.

A liquidation of the REIT may have yielded as much as $2.4 billion to distribute to creditors, according to an estimate provided in court papers. Washington Prime entered bankruptcy with a debt pile in excess of $3 billion.

"I suspect that no matter how many conversations you had, no one would ever know what the true value is," Isgur said in the hearing.

The case is Washington Prime Group Inc., 21-31948, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas (Houston).

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As mall owner Washington Prime Group exits bankruptcy, no one knows what it's worth - Crain's Cleveland Business

One of the last bits of legal fallout from the 2016 Ghost Ship fire in Oakland appears to have reached a resolution, and families of some of the 36 victims are going to share a $12 million settlement from the owners of the property.

The Ng family, who own the Ghost Ship warehouse in the Fruitvale District and rented it to Derick Almena, will not be held criminally liable for the tragic fire the statute of limitations on that ran out in December 2019. But as KRON4 reports, the Ng family has struck a deal to settle a civil lawsuit with the families of 13 fire victims and 12 others who formerly lived in the warehouse.

Attorney Mary Alexander, who represented the plaintiffs, said in a statement that while her clients were disappointed that the landlords would not be held criminally responsible, they were glad that they would be held financially accountable.

"The owners of the building, the Ngs, went into voluntary bankruptcy," Alexander said, per KRON4. "Thats so that we will have not only their insurance policy but [they] will also sell the properties that they have in Oakland and those proceeds will go to the families."

ABC 7 reported that the Ngs had agreed to sell real estate to pay $6 million of the settlement, with their insurance covering the remainder.

Landlord Chor Ng and her children had been the subject of inquiries about the cause of the tragic fire, which broke out during an event at the warehouse managed by Almena on December 2, 2016. Early reports suggested that the Ngs turned a blind eye to the illegal buildout and shoddy electrical wiring that was done by Almena, which was likely primarily to blame for the blaze though an official source of the fire was never determined.

Following a 2019 criminal trial that ended in a hung jury on Almena's guilt, acquitting co-defendant Max Harris, Almena pleaded guilty to 36 counts of manslaughter in January 2021 as part of plea deal that got him out of jail with time served.

Alexander said that the families have already settled cases with PG&E and the City of Oakland.

"The families really wanted to see the Ngs charged criminally and be held responsible for letting this building be such a fire trap, for having people living there and for unpermitted events and so this civil suit, though the amount of money is not enough to compensate them fully, but at least its some sense of justice, Alexander said, per KRON4.

It has been almost five years and it is still very raw and still very upsetting to the families," Alexander said. "Were hoping this will give them some sense of justice, this compensation."

Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

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Ghost Ship Building Landlords to Pay $12M to Victims' Families, and Declare Bankruptcy - SFist

Which Boy Scout sexual abuse victims will receive settlement money and how much? Court records filed this summer offer the first glimpses of big decisions ahead.

The sizeof the case alone more than 90,000 claims were filed suggest the complicated path ahead, which will involve determining the value of a claim based on its severity, believability and location.

There is little precedent to rely on because, although the Scout bankruptcyis one in a chain of modern-day sexual abuses cases, its scope and legal challenges set it apart. The largest Catholic diocese bankruptcy cases involved a few hundred claims.

A USA TODAY analysis of court filings suggests that most could end up with a fraction of what their counterparts have been allotted in more than a dozen bankruptcy cases involving Catholic dioceses.

Read how these vexing decisions are made: In Boy Scouts bankruptcy, which sexual abuse victims will get a settlement?

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As Boy Scouts eye end to bankruptcy, tough work lies ahead in vetting, valuing sexual abuse claims - USA TODAY

ROLI, best known for its MPE controllers such as the Seaboard and Blocks, has filed for bankruptcy. The company will be relaunching as a new entity, Luminary, that puts greater focus on its beginner-friendly LUMI keyboard.

The London-based music startup, which was backed by Pharrell and Grimes, was struggling financially: it reported pre-tax losses of 34.1 million from an income of 11.4 million in the 18 months leading to the end of June 2019.

Roland Lamb, ROLIs founder and CEO, told Business Insider that its financial woes were largely due to the company targeting a niche market as well as difficulties of operating during the pandemic.

Ultimately what happened was the pro-focused products we initially developed, although successful within their marketplace, the marketplace wasnt big enough given our venture trajectory, Lamb told Insider. We had our eyes set on hypergrowth and that proved to be difficult.

The new company, Luminary, will pivot away from innovative controllers for pros. Instead, it will focus on the LUMI keyboard and app, which teaches beginners to read and play music.

The LUMI keyboard is sold at $299, with an annual subscription fee of $79 for additional songs and lessons. In our review, we said it was probably as close as youll get to piano tuition without an in-person tutor.

Luminary will also not be producing the ROLI Seaboard just yet, but it plans to re-introduce the squishy controller in the future.

70 ROLI employees will shift to the new business, which has already raised 5 million in initial funding.

ROLI issued a statement to MusicTech that read: Were hugely excited to work with Hoxton Ventures to further the future of ROLI and LUMI instruments. This restructuring provides a unique opportunity for our team to continue on its mission to make piano learning fun with our LUMI keyboard and subscription, in addition to satisfying popular demand by bringing back the award-winning Seaboard in 2022 and continuing to develop our pro software ecosystem

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ROLI files for bankruptcy and will reboot as beginner-focused company Luminary - MusicTech

COVID-19 has made an undeniable and significant impact on many businesses around Australia. With each lockdown and implementation of harsh restrictions, business owners and directors are forced to scramble to keep their business afloat. No doubt liquidators will shortly be inundated with companies desperately trying to evaluate their options.

Insolvency, voluntary administration, bankruptcy and liquidation are terms that are consistently being thrown around. But what do they mean? Is there a difference?

Insolvency

Insolvency applies to companies. Your company is insolvent if it is unable to pay its debts when they become due and payable.

There is however more nuance to testing for insolvency including a cash flow test, which considers income sources that are available to the company and expenditure obligations it has to meet. This is in contrast with the balance sheet test, which focuses on the value of the companys assets and liabilities reflected in the companys books.

Whether or not a company is insolvent at a particular point in time is a question of fact to be ascertained from a consideration of the companys position taken as a whole. The courts task is to decide whether the company is suffering from an endemic shortage of working capital which means that, in a cash flow sense, it cannot pay its debts as and when they fall due.

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy occurs when a natural person (as opposed to a company) is unable to pay his or her debts.

The Official Trustee in Bankruptcy or a registered trustee is then authorised on behalf of the State to take possession of the property of the bankrupt. Consider a trustee as a person who is allowed to step into someone elses shoes to make decisions. If you become bankrupt, the trustee will in effect step into your shoes to manage your remaining assets to pay off your debts and manage related affairs. It generally lasts three years and involves, in most cases, the bankrupt making payments to their trustee from the income they earn during that period.

Liquidation / Winding Up

Liquidation is the process of winding up a company.

Usually, a creditor who has not been paid will ask the Court to make an Order declaring that the company be wound up. After a company is wound up, it still exists until it is deregistered.

An insolvent company does not have to go into liquidation. That insolvency may be temporary, or a plan could be devised (called a deed of company arrangement). Early intervention can be applied to a business to prevent it from being wound up in liquidation. The most common of the processes used is referred to as Voluntary Administration.

Voluntary Administration

When a company becomes insolvent (or its solvency is questionable), the directors, or a primary charge holder, can put the business into voluntary administration. Voluntary administration is a process in which an administrator is appointed to the company to investigate the companys affairs and financial difficulties and make recommendations to ultimately resolve the situation.

While the company is in administration, the administrator takes full control of the company. With full control of the company, the director or third party and voluntary administrator are allowed time to find a way to save the company where possible. This may involve arranging for debts to be paid at reduced amounts, selling a part of the company that is not profitable, reducing staff and similar actions.

Voluntary administration provides a breathing space to allow for an assessment of whether value can be preserved.

What is a Deed of Company Arrangement

An administrator may suggest implementing a deed of company arrangement. A deed of company arrangement (DOCA) is a binding agreement between a company and its creditors which governs how the companys affairs will be dealt with in order to pay all, or part, of its debts. Creditors will need to complete a proof of debt claim and attach any unpaid invoices in order to have a say.

For example, a company may have 5 main creditors, whom it owes $50,000 each. If the company goes into liquidation, the creditors will each receive $5,000 of the total amount owed to them. The administrator may negotiate with the creditors so that each creditor is paid $25,000 to settle the debt. The creditors will be in a position where they have more than if the company were wound up. The companys debt is reduced, and it may continue to trade and become stabilised.

Receivership

Similar to bankruptcy, receivership is the legal process in which a Receiver is appointed to a company to collect or sell enough of the secured property or assets to repay the debts.

A company in voluntary administration may also be in receivership. The difference between voluntary administration and receivership is that a Receiver is appointed by a secured creditor to recover their debts or by a Court to undertake specific functions.

Small Business Restructuring

Presently, when the insolvency process commences, an external administrator (e.g. liquidator or voluntary administrator) will take control of the business. From 1 January 2021, eligible companies can resolve to appoint a small business restructuring professional (SBRP) to help them restructure their business. The SBRP will assist the company to formulate a restructuring plan and will make a declaration to creditors about it.

Once the proposed restructuring plan is finalised:

Only companies with liabilities of less than $1 million can take advantage of the proposed changes, though it is said this threshold will cover 76 per cent of businesses subject to insolvencies today.

If the restructuring plan is approved by creditors, the business can continue trading subject to oversight by the SBRP as to the distribution of funds to creditors.

Conclusion

If you are a director and believe that your company is heading in the wrong direction, now is the time to confront reality and seek timely advice about a possible restructuring or winding up. Many options are available to a company that has a chance at recovery and renewal.

Insolvency does not mean the end of a business. Not all insolvent businesses need to end up in liquidation. The key to saving a business is to act early.

Continued here:

FAQs: The actual difference between insolvency, bankruptcy, liquidation, and so on - Lexology

In recent years, many businesses and individuals have closed down because of underlying debts. More than 700,000 Americans declared bankruptcy in 2017. And more so in the last half of 2020 because of the pandemic. It is reported that the number of bankruptcies in the latter year has exceeded the number of filings seen in any other year since 2012.

But what is bankruptcy? Will filing for bankruptcy help you in settling your debts? How will it affect your status in the credit community? Will you still be able to make a loan or mortgage despite your record? Here are the things that you need to know about this proceeding.

It is a legal process that helps you get relief from your debt by eliminating all or part of it. It calls for you to demonstrate that you are unable to pay and requires a process to liquidate some of your assets to pay off a portion of your debts. In some cases, you can reorganize the company and pay your debts without any work interruption.

The federal courts shall handle the process, and its conduct will be based on the underlying rules outlined by the Bankruptcy Code. There are still more details about bankruptcy that we all need to know and understand.

There are several types of bankruptcy, and each has a salient feature that differs from other forms. They are referred to as Chapters in the Bankruptcy Code. They are Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13.

However, this will negatively affect you because the bankruptcy information will remain in your credit report for ten years. It can affect your credit standing, and you will have difficulty in, say, getting a car loan or mortgage. This kind of bankruptcy is also called straight bankruptcy.

Under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the main point here is the reorganization and not liquidation. It does not interrupt the conduct of their business while working out on the repayment plan. This process is under the supervision of the court.

Also called the wage earners plan, this is a better option because it will only stay in your credit report for seven years from the date of filing. Unlike Chapter 7, you are not required to surrender certain properties once the bankruptcy proceeding is initiated.

Getting a bankruptcy report removed from your credit report takes a lot of time, depending on the kind of bankruptcy that you filed. Although it will automatically delete, it will take years before it is completely gone, and this spells a certain inconvenience on your part. Your financial situation is still open to any potential creditors and may hurt your chances.

You can challenge any erroneous report on your record. Go over your credit record after your bankruptcy case. This is how to get bankruptcy off credit report early. Any inconsistency or error is an opportunity to remove bankruptcy. It will give you a chance to repair your credit.

If you have been through a bankruptcy case, avoid making the same mistakes. It is hard to go through the same problems again. You are given another chance to pick up the pieces of your life. Review your credit records, work hard to repair your credit, and keep yourself debt-free.

Filing for bankruptcy is usually the last resort of most individuals and businesses to save their finances, but it will also make a dent in your credit standing and cause you to lose more than you gain. Creditors will be wary of you because of your financial history. It will also take some time before you can clear your credit record.

This is a tedious process that will exhaust you and your resources; therefore, it is proper to avoid this situation. It is best that you anticipate any potential challenges that may come your way, manage your income, cut on some unnecessary costs, and make your debt a priority.

This is a tedious process that will exhaust you and your resources; therefore, it is proper to avoid this situation. It is best that you anticipate any potential challenges that may come your way, manage your income, cut on some unnecessary costs, and make your debt a priority.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of BK Reader.

Originally posted here:

Bankruptcy: How It Works and How You Can Get It Off Your Credit Report - Brooklyn Reader

(Reuters) - U.S. shale oil and gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp plans to cut 15% of its workforce, an email sent to employees revealed, as it closes on new financing that will allow it to emerge from bankruptcy court protection next week.

Once the second-largest U.S. natural gas producer, Chesapeake was felled by a long slide in gas prices. The company is resetting our business to emerge a stronger and more competitive enterprise, according to the email to employees by Chief Executive Doug Lawler dated Tuesday, and reviewed by Reuters.

Most of the 220 layoffs will happen at the Oklahoma City headquarters, the email said.

Chesapeake on Tuesday said it planned to raise $1 billion in notes to complete its bankruptcy exit.

The companys bankruptcy plan was approved by a U.S. judge last month, giving lenders control of the firm and ending a contentious trial.

Chesapeake filed for court protection in June, reeling from overspending on assets and from a sudden decline in demand and prices spurred by the coronavirus pandemic.

As we prepare to conclude our restructuring, we continue to prudently manage our business and staffing levels to adapt to challenging market conditions and position Chesapeake for sustainable success, company spokesman Gordon Pennoyer said by email, when asked about the planned layoffs.

People losing their jobs will be given severance packages and career assistance, according to Lawlers email. The companys headquarters was closed on Wednesday and workers were notified by phone about layoffs because of the current health concerns known to all, the email said.

Reporting by Jennifer Hiller; editing by Richard Pullin and Marguerita Choy

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Chesapeake Energy cuts 15% of workers as it emerges from bankruptcy - Reuters