Bankruptcy Professionals Pan Obama Administration Approach in Chrysler Bankrutpcy According to Latest ABI Quick Poll

Bankruptcy Professionals Pan Obama Administration Approach in Chrysler Bankrutpcy According to Latest ABI Quick Poll

Contact: John Hartgen
             703-894-5935
             [email protected]

 

BANKRUPTCY PROFESSIONALS PAN OBAMA ADMINISTRATION APPROACH IN CHRYSLER BANKRUPTCY, ACCORDING TO LATEST ABI QUICK POLL

May 27, 2009, Alexandria, Va. — An overwhelming majority of respondents (80 percent) in a recent ABI Quick Poll believe that the Obama administration took the wrong approach in engineering the Chrysler bankruptcy, including dictating the terms of who will own the new entity and how much bondholders will be paid. Seventy-six percent “disagreed strongly” and 4 percent “somewhat disagreed” that the Obama administration took the correct approach in Chrysler’s bankruptcy.

President Obama announced a “surgical bankruptcy” for Chrysler on April 30 that the administration said could be completed in 30 to 60 days so it could pursue a lifesaving alliance with the Italian automaker Fiat. The administration-engineered chapter 11 plan allows the United Automobile Workers, through their retirement plan, to take control of Chrysler, with Fiat and the United States as junior partners. Under the terms of Chrysler’s reorganization plan, secured lenders would receive about 29 cents on the dollar in cash. These lenders had objected to having to take such a discount, despite holding first-lien debt, but agreed to the plan after sharp criticism from the White House.

Sixteen percent of respondents agreed that the Obama administration took the correct approach in actively engineering the Chrysler bankruptcy. Eleven percent “agreed strongly” and 5 percent “somewhat agreed” that the administration had taken correct steps in the Chrysler bankruptcy. One percent of respondents did not know or had no opinion on the issue. Nearly 200 people responded to the online poll.

ABI members and members of the public were welcome to submit their response to the statement: “The Obama administration took the correct approach in actively engineering the Chrysler bankruptcy, including dictating the terms of who will own the new entity and how much bondholders will be paid.”

ABI’s Quick Poll is posted on ABI’s home page, www.abiworld.org. ABI members and the public are invited to respond to a question on a timely bankruptcy or insolvency issue. Visit http://www.abiworld.net/quickpoll/ to access the results of previous ABI Quick Polls.

###

ABI is the largest multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan organization dedicated to research and education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy issues. The ABI membership includes nearly 12,000 attorneys, accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround specialists and other bankruptcy professionals, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI, visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abiworld.org/conferences.html.