posted by Jason Kilborn
I have been an American Bankruptcy Institute member since June 1999, but I have finally made the difficult decision to allow my membership to lapse after 22 years at the end of next month.
I've been thinking about this for some time. Academic friends had been suggesting to me for years that they were uncomfortable with some of ABI's practices, and I was shocked when ABI sharply raised my membership dues for the first time in two decades a few years ago. I've been thinking since then about the value proposition of my membership, and I had begun to notice that I seemed to be getting very little value for my increased dues ... and then I received the first of several renewal notice emails.
When I reviewed the renewal webpage, I recalled my friends' concerns about ABI's objectionable practices as I saw what seemed to me to be a troublesome new practice. For years, I have simply renewed and paid electronically, with no "gotcha" commitments. This year, for the first time, I noticed that I had to select a box indicating that I agreed to have my membership auto-renewed and my credit card auto-charged for future dues. Perhaps it's irrational, but this really stuck in my craw. I envisioned one of those misleading commercials for leggings or bamboo socks that suck you into an auto-renewal scheme, and more importantly, I recalled the FTC's concerns about the abusive auto-renewal trend that seems to have popped up in recent years. States have begun to pass anti-auto-renewal laws to curb this abusive practice. I understand, of course, that auto-renewal is convenient and desirable for many people, and the checkbox on ABI's renewal page would be unobjectionable if it were optional. But forcing members to "agree"--again, for the first time ever--to auto-renew and auto-pay in the following years (or navigate back into the electronic membership labyrinth and manage to figure out how to cancel this auto-renewal in time to avoid it) is a shocking practice for an organization that purports to stand for (among other things) protecting consumers. Unseemly at the very least.
Continue reading "Bye, Bye, ABI" »
posted by Mark Weidemaier
Ukraine's financial position is worsening, restructuring seems likely, and the big question is what to do about the $3 billion loan Victor Yanukovych saddled the country with before fleeing. Coverage of the loan here and here on Credit Slips, and bonus coverage on FT Alphaville (free registration required). Though a government-to-government loan in substance, the loan is disguised as an ordinary eurobond issue, with contract terms that give Russia extraordinary leverage. These include the right to accelerate early, trigger cross-default, and block or impede restructuring. That may be why recent reports suggest the plan is to pay Russia in full when the bonds mature in December 2015, though I can't imagine either Ukraine or its official lenders are thrilled at the prospect.
Perhaps there are other options. The academic literature on sovereign debt often discounts the relevance of law and legal institutions, although Mitu Gulati and I argue here that this may be a mistake. Ukraine's case may illustrate the point. The country's leverage - what little it has - depends in part on whether it can place meaningful legal barriers in the way of any effort to enforce the bonds. That would likely involve English law and courts (see par. 16, page 35 of the prospectus). Below the jump, I discuss two possibilities. The first is a proposal by Anna Gelpern described in detail in this paper (which also has good background on the loan) and this blog post. The second is a brief but tantalizing proposal by Joseph Blocher and Mitu Gulati in the final section of this paper. In short, Anna proposes legislation making the debt unenforceable in English courts. Joseph and Mitu suggest that Ukraine is entitled to compensation for Russia's annexation of Crimea and can use this claim as a set-off against the debt. Both proposals raise unique challenges and questions.
Continue reading "Legal Options for Ukraine's Russian Debt Problem" »
posted by Nathalie Martin
Today we welcome Matthew Bruckner as a guest blogger. Professor Bruckner teaches at Howard University School of law. I first became acquainted with him through his wonderful scholarship applying virtue theory to bankruptcy law. He teaches a variety of business and commercial law courses, including contracts and bankruptcy. Professor Bruckner has previously taught at St. John’s University School of Law and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. His academic interests center on commercial bankruptcy issue and his most recent scholarship focuses on how to reduce the cost of professional representation in corporate bankruptcy cases.
Prior to law teaching, Professor Bruckner was an attorney practicing in the areas of bankruptcy, bank regulatory, M&A, and other general transactional matters with Allen & Overy, LLP. Professor Bruckner also undertook a number of pro bono engagements for the Public International Law and Policy Group, where he led a team working on comparative constitutional law issues. After leaving Allen & Overy, Professor Bruckner clerked for the Honorable Allen L. Gropper of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. In a prior life, he was a stagehand at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
Welcome Matthew!
posted by Bob Lawless
Our friend and co-blogger, Jean Braucher, passed away a week ago today. Our first post here on Credit Slips had only a few paragraphs about her contributions to our professional community. There was a lot more to say about Jean.
Since that time, a number of comments have made their way into my inbox or were posted on to that original post. The comments have come from practicing attorneys, academics, judges, and journalists and from all over the United States as well as Europe, Australia, and South America. If you sent me a longer comment, I hope I have done justice to it below in excerpting it, and my apologies if I mistakenly omitted some. Here is what people wrote about Jean.
Continue reading "Tributes to Jean" »
posted by Bob Lawless
We are making a few changes in the author line-up here at Credit Slips. The blog has been running for seven and a half years. During that time, new voices have entered the academy, and we need to keep up!
Continue reading "Some Changes at the Slips" »
posted by Bob Lawless
Credit Slips now has a Twitter feed. You can find us @CreditSlips on Twitter (as well as from the button to the right). We'll be trying to put our posts up there as well as retweeting from the Credit Slips authors. We also have added a button that will allow you to tweet individual Credit Slips posts on your own Twitter feed.
posted by Bob Lawless
So, I just discovered that the Credit Slips feed to Facebook has been inactive for two months. I think I have fixed it. As the one with all the virtual keys to the machines, my experience when looking at the web site is not always the same as everyone else's. And, this blog is something we all do in our spare time. If something stops working or you have other suggestions, feel welcome to shoot me an e-mail or leave a comment. It will be a help.
posted by Bob Lawless
The many interesting comments left by our informed readership help make Credit Slips one of the best places on the Internet for informed discussion about debt and bankruptcy issues. The many spam comments make Credit Slips a less useful resource.
Continue reading "Comments, Spam, Loyal Readers, and False Positives" »