A recent decision out of the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of New York has brought greater certainty to the interpretation of what qualifies as an “interest” when determining the scope of a Section 363(f) “free and clear” sale in bankruptcy. The decision in In re Tougher Industries, Inc. became the latest in a … Continue Reading
For the last few weeks, I’ve been writing about investing in distressed bank assets, with a particular focus on the European markets. As you know, we think there are huge opportunities as the European banks disintermediate to meet capital thresholds, while the economy in Europe grinds slower and slower. Last week in this blog we … Continue Reading
Sometimes a bank just has to sell assets. For many banks confronting capital shortfalls, this is one of those times. Last week, we wrote generally about the "Investing in Distressed Bank Assets Conference" in London. Great conference. Marquee headline: EU Banks Will Sell Risky Assets. Time for a deeper dive into issues confronted by the sellers. So, if you want to … Continue Reading
Last week, I spoke in London at a conference, “Investing in Bank Assets” sponsored by the Association of Financial Markets in Europe (AFME). The Conference had a titillating, if a tad alarming, subtitle “The European Purge Begins”. The question is, of course, is it true? The purge, I mean. Is there a European purge afoot, and … Continue Reading
We’ve been writing a lot recently about the likelihood that European banks and, to a lesser extent, U.S. banks would be strongly incented to sell assets to improve capital ratios. We had a client briefing in New York on the Eurobank crisis a few weeks ago. We brought together our North American and European regulatory … Continue Reading