Contact: John Hartgen
             (703) 739-0800
             [email protected]

PAYMENT TO CRITICAL VENDORS WITHIN 90 DAYS OF CHAPTER 11 FILING NOT A PREFERENTIAL TRANSFER, ACCORDING TO LATEST ABI POLL

March 20, 2007, Alexandria, Va. — A majority of respondents (56 percent) in a recent American Bankruptcy Institute online poll agreed that a creditor who qualifies is as a critical vendor and gets paid within 90 days of a debtor’s chapter 11 filing not subject to having the payment considered a preferential transfer. Thirty-five percent of respondents “strongly agreed” and 21 percent “agreed somewhat” that a creditor who qualifies as a critical vendor and gets paid within 90 days of a debtor’s chapter 11 filing is not subject to having the payment considered a preferential transfer.  

Thirty-three percent of respondents disagreed, finding that a creditor who qualifies as a critical vendor and gets paid within 90 days of a debtor’s chapter 11 filing is subject to having its payment considered a preferential transfer. Twenty-six percent of respondents “strongly disagreed” and 7 percent “disagreed somewhat” that a creditor who qualifies as a critical vendor and gets paid within 90 days of a debtor’s chapter 11 filing is not subject to having the payment considered a preferential transfer. Seven percent did not know or had no opinion.

ABI members and the public were welcome to submit their response to the statement: “A creditor who qualifies as a critical vendor and gets paid within 90 days of a debtor’s chapter 11 filing is subject to having its payment avoided as a preferential transfer.” The ABI Quick Poll was open for voting from March 9-15.

ABI’s weekly 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.

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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 more than 11,000 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.