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Our Subscribers Say...
I think Credit Today is fantastic. You cover many practical topics in the credit field that I use regularly. Just one recent example—a conversation on the ListServ about preferential payments—gave me tips that I used in an actual case. The specific information I picked up from this one discussion saved me $10,000, enough to cover my membership for many years!
- Steve Savino
Manager of Credit & Collections, ASSA Abloy Americas Division, New Haven, CT
Credit Today's Resource Directory and their online e-mail forum (ListServ) provide information on almost any credit-related topic you can think of. It is a great way to exchange information with other credit professionals. As the saying goes, "You don't know what you don't know."
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Credit Manager, Big Lots Stores, Inc., Wholesale Division
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"Being a part of the Credit Today online community is like having the expertise of hundreds of credit managers at your fingertips. These credit execs are willing to help you solve topical business issues as they arise. In the current environment of ever increasing competing priorities which reduce our opportunities to meet peers out of the office face-to-face, this is the most valuable tool you can have on your desktop! It's important that we have a mechanism to reach out to our counterparts quickly to exchange knowledge as well as to stay on top of industry trends."
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The Credit Today ListServ has become the pre-imminent online forum, providing an opportunity for discussion and comments (and occasional humor) from an impressive list of credit professionals."
David Dungan, Director of Credit
Justin Brands, Inc. (A Berkshire Hathaway company)
Fort Worth, Texas
"There are numerous credit periodicals available to the credit professional today. How good is Credit Today? Is it relevant? I always have to read it late, or online because my credit analysts want to read it the minute it comes in. When my staff wants to read a publication before I have a chance to read it then something is working in that publication. We have cancelled our other subscriptions. When you have the best you do not need the rest."
Ron Woods
Corporate Credit Manager-World Wide
Thales Navigation, Inc.
"The newsletter, coupled with the website and the ListServ, are to us, more valuable than any other credit publication, bar none. I try to use at least one article out of each newsletter for departmental training/discussion sessions."
D. Mark Constantine
Corporate Credit Mgr
Fulton Paper Company
"I love Credit Today and read every issue cover to cover. For me, the greatest perk of a subscription is ListServ. I believe Credit Today's ListServ members may be the most knowledgeable Credit brain trust in existence today. I have saved and categorized hundreds of contributions on a wide variety of topics which I refer to often. It's an easy and cost effective way to network and learn."
Doug M. Thomas
Kimberly-Clark Customer Financial Services |
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Bankruptcy Resources For Credit Managers
Here we've compiled a resource center on bankruptcy issues for trade credit managers - everything you'll need to know to face that unfortunate occurrence.
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Fear And Lothian Oil: Are Unsecured Creditors Under Greater Threat From Insider Loans?
Johnny White, Esq.
The controversial doctrine of recharacterization empowers bankruptcy courts to ignore the formal labels of a loan and, looking instead to a transaction's substance, reclassify a lender's claim as equity instead of debt. The primary goal of the doctrine is to stop shareholders retaining assets of a bankrupt estate at the expense of creditors simply by dressing up their capital investments as loans. Recharacterization can have significant impact on the treatment of unsecured creditors in many bankruptcies. Its practical consequence is that the newly recharacterized loans fall down the ladder of priority (below the trade creditors) in the scheme of distribution at the end of the case. In large Chapter 11 cases where the debtor is carrying millions, perhaps hundreds of millions, in mezzanine bond debt for example, relegating the bondholders could be the difference between zero and hundred cent dollars for the trade. . . .
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Recent Developments Regarding Section 503(b)(9) Of The Bankruptcy Code
By Ronald A. Clifford, Esq.
The case law continues to develop regarding Section 503(b)(9) of the Bankruptcy Code. Issues such as the conditions under which a 503(b)(9) claim may be paid prior to the effective date of a plan, and what constitutes a "good" under 503(b)(9) have been at the forefront of case law in recent years. Many of these issues remain unresolved at the national level, and what vendors are left with are varying decisions from different jurisdictions around the country. . . .
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You've Been Selected As A Critical Vendor - Now What? Negotiating Points
By Scott Blakeley, Esq.
The credit executive well knows that a customer's Chapter 11 means long delays before receiving payment on the prepetition account, which payment is usually but a fraction of the claim. Indeed, it is not uncommon for the vendor to receive stock in the reorganized debtor in exchange for its prepettion claim. Traditionally, the vendor would file a proof of claim, perhaps serve on the creditors' committee, and press the debtor for a meaningful payment. Does a vendor in this situation, especially one with substantial trade relationship, have any additional alternatives? Fortunately, with the development of the critical vendor doctrine, the credit executive may have an alternative that may result in payment in full. . . .
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Does A Critical Vendor Lose Its New Value Defense To A Preference Action?
Bradley D. Blakeley, Esq.
If you have a pre-petition claim and are selected as a critical vendor, do you lose your new value defense for the invoices paid under the critical vendor order? Creditor's rights and bankruptcy law firm Blakeley & Blakeley recently encountered the issue while defending a vendor in the Delaware bankruptcy court. Judge Sontchi decided the issue this week and the result is a big win for creditors. . . .
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Will I be exposed to a preference claim?
December 12, 2011
Recently we have been approached by some our customers to participate in an early payment program, that operates by not changing terms, but by my going on line and bidding against other suppliers for early payments. If the vendor finds my offer or discount acceptable, the vendor then processes the selected invoices at the successful bid rate and sends me a check, net of the discount I offered. My discount bid would not necessarily be the same week to week, and there is no guarantee that my offer would be regularly, intermittently or ever accepted. If my bid is accepted, I would be getting paid contrary to the normal payment history with that customer. I imagine two vendors could both have winning bids the same week but the discounts offered could vary greatly depending on how high of a discount a vendor is willing to bid. Now for the issue, in the event of a bankruptcy filing, my fear is that I may be expositing myself to a preference claim and if that's the case, unless a customer is AAA, this is just not worth the risk. Anyone have any idea as to how this could play out in a potential bankruptcy preference claim. . . .
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New Decision Confirms that Secured Creditors May Have Lien on Economic Value of FCC License
By: Sharon L. Levine, Esq., Wojciech F. Jung, Esq.
In a recent decision1 involving TerreStar Networks, Inc., and its affiliates ("TerreStar" or the "Debtors"), the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York held that the Debtors' noteholders held a valid lien on the economic value of a license granted to TerreStar by the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") and that nothing in Article 9 of the New York Uniform Commercial Code (the "NYUCC") or Section 552 of the Bankruptcy Code invalidated that lien. The question of whether a secured lender can obtain a valid lien on an FCC license has been subject to contested debates and contradictory decisions of late, with some courts holding that FCC licenses cannot be encumbered, while other courts, in differentiating between the economic and noneconomic attributes of an FCC license, have held that lenders may encumber such economic attributes of the license without violating public policy. The TerreStar court, relying heavily on a decision issued by Judge Peck in 2009 in the case of Ion Media Networks, sided with the lenders who claimed to have perfected their liens in TerreStar's economic interest in the FCC license when they extended TerreStar approximately $500 million in loans in 2008. . . .
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Saved by a Payment Plan
"Aside from the aggravation, the barrage of phone calls, and the threats of litigation, we entered into agreements that cost us a great deal more than they should have," recalls George Rarinick, presi . . .
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Handling Threats of Bankruptcy
A credit consultant friend of ours had a client who presented him with the following scenario and asked that he create a strategy to address it. In response to a final demand for payment, his clie . . .
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Compelling Discoveries: A Primer in Pre-Trial Procedure for the Credit Professional
Johnny White, Esq.
The average credit professional is probably familiar with the term "discovery," and may have a rough idea of what it means. But many are unfamiliar (or, familiar but confused) about how it actually works. Depending on past experience, you may view discovery as daunting, boring, pointless, annoying, or all of the above. But your having a basic understanding could really help your attorney collect your delinquent account. And while it may be daunting, boring and annoying, it is not pointless. . . .
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Objecting to a Debtor's Discharge for the Benefit of All Creditors Under 11 U.S.C § 727 of the Bankruptcy Code
Brooke R. Sanita, Esq.
It is an all too common scenario, a creditor files suit in state court to collect a debt owed to it by a customer only to have the defendant file for bankruptcy relief in the middle of litigation. As a result of the automatic stay imposed by section 362 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, or "Code," the creditor is barred from further collection efforts and the state court litigation is stayed. While reviewing the debtor's Schedules and Statement of Financial Affairs the creditor notices that the debtor has failed to include many of its assets and has misstated its income. Further, the creditor is confident that the debtor transferred certain assets right before or after filing its bankruptcy petition. . . .
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Outlook 2012
This month's survey explores...
- What the top problems are facing credit execs currently, and
- What the top improvement initiatives are.
Click here to participate!
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