Issue: Concluding more than two years of effort, ABI’s Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 will hold a press conference to release its final report of proposals to modernize and improve the Bankruptcy Code for financially distressed businesses. The Commission’s final report incorporates recommendations of 13 advisory committees that examined key issues in corporate bankruptcies, and testimony presented at 17 public hearings held from 2012 to 2014. When: Monday, Dec. 8, 9-10 a.m. ET Where: National Press Club, Zenger Room, 13th Floor 529 14th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20045 Members of the press looking to participate in the press conference should contact John Hartgen at [email protected] or 703-894-5935. Who: Participants at the event include: · Commission Co-Chair Robert J. Keach of Bernstein Shur (Portland, Maine). Please click here for Mr. Keach’s bio. · Commission Co-Chair Al Togut of Togut, Segal & Segal, LLP (New York). Please click here for Mr. Togut’s bio. · Commission Reporter Prof. Michelle M. Harner of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (Baltimore). Please click here for Prof. Harner’s bio. Background: After concluding more than two years of work, ABI’s Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11 will release its final report of recommendations to improve chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code for financially distressed businesses. The Commission is made up of 23 prominent insolvency professionals. More than 130 other leading experts participated on topical advisory committees to thoroughly study chapter 11 practice in the most comprehensive study of its kind in more than a decade. The commission held a total of 17 hearings around the country from 2012 to 2014 examining key problems in chapter 11 reorganizations. The report focuses on specific proposals to modernize and improve the chapter 11 process. Some of the key proposals contained within the final report include: · Reduce barriers to entry by providing debtors more flexibility in arranging debtor-in-possession financing. · Clarify lenders’ rights in a chapter 11 case. · Facilitate more timely and efficient diligence, investigation and resolution of disputed matters through an expanded role for examiners. · Incorporate checks and balances on the rights and remedies of creditors. · Create an alternative restructuring scheme for small and medium-sized enterprises that allows the company and court to more efficiently guide the company through chapter 11. The press conference will feature the Commission’s co-chairs and reporter discussing these recommendations and others contained within the Commission’s final report. Members of the media who wish to attend the press conference should contact John Hartgen at [email protected] or 703-894-5935. # # # 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 13,000 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 ABI World at http://www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information, visit http://www.abiworld.org/events/newevents.html.