Abi Podcast

Conversation with Arthur T. Perkins ABI Deputy Executive Director Felicia S. Turner talks with Arthur T. Perkins, the current president of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) and co-head of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services' turnaround consulting and restructuring practice for the West Region. In addition to discussing the history of TMA, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, Perkins discusses the current climate of financial turnarounds for distressed companies during the current credit crunch and the increase in business bankruptcy filings.The views expressed in this podcast are those of the interviewee, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP.

Conversation with Grant Stein ABI Resident Scholar Jack F. Williams talks with Grant Stein, the current president of the Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors (AIRA) and a partner in Alston & Bird's Bankruptcy, Reorganization and Workouts Group. Stein discusses the history and growth of the AIRA, as well as the organization's Certified Insolvency & Restructuring Advisor (CIRA) and Certification in Distressed Business Valuation (CDBV) programs.

Conversation with Prof. Ronald T. Wilcox ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano talks with Prof. Ronald T. Wilcox of the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. Author of the recently published book, Whatever Happened to Thrift? Why Americans Don't Save and What to Do About It, Wilcox shares his views on the growing trend of consumer debt in the United States and why American's sense of thrift has diminished.

Conversation with Martha G. Bronitsky Continuing the series of conversations with presidents of various prominent organizations in the insolvency community, ABI Deputy Executive Director Felicia Turner speaks with Martha G. Bronitsky, the president of the National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (NACTT). Bronitsky discusses the history of the NACTT, the NACTT Academy and some of the changes to chapter 13 trustees' practice caused by BAPCPA.

Conversation with U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens The latest ABI Podcast features a conversation with U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, recorded at the ABI Southwest Bankruptcy Conference on Sept. 5. Justice Stephens is the longest-serving current member of the Court, appointed by President Ford in 1975.

Conversation with Prof. Lois R. Lupica ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano talks with Prof. Lois R. Lupica, the Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Professor of Law at the University of Maine School of Law. Lupica, who served as the Robert M. Zinman ABI Resident Scholar for the Spring 2007 semester, discusses A Study of Consumers' Post-Discharge Finances: Struggles, Stasis, or Fresh-Start? an article she co-wrote with Prof. Jay L. Zagorsky of Ohio State University. The study was featured in the Spring 2008 edition of the ABI Law Review.

Should We Worry About PBGCs Debt ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano talks with Nell Hennessy, President & CEO of Fiduciary Counselors Inc. From 1993 to 1998, Hennessey served as Deputy Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) and represented the PBGC in negotiations with major corporate pension plan sponsors and unions in a wide range of industries, including auto, steel, chemical, textile and airlines. She discusses the challenges facing the PBGC amid the economic downturn and potential solutions for the agency as it faces billions of dollars in funding deficits for U.S. pensions.

Mortgage Loan Modification Options This podcast features a discussion of residential home mortgage modification options now facing Congress. Joining ABI Executive Director Sam Gerdano are Christopher Mayer, Senior Vice Dean and Paul Milstein Professor of Real Estate at the Columbia University Business School, and Edward Morrison, Professor of Law at the Columbia Law School. Mayer and Morrison have developed a new proposal for loan modification that compensates servicers who modify mortgages and removes legal constraints that inhibit modification.

Did BAPCPA Cause the Foreclosure Crisis ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano talks with Dr. Donald Morgan, Research Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, about the latter's research arguing that BAPCPA shifted risk from credit card lenders to mortgage lenders, partially helping to trigger the surge in home foreclosures. The conclusions of Morgan and his colleagues echo earlier findings that the new law's tougher requirements appear to have increased the number of people defaulting on their mortgages or walking away from their homes rather than seeking bankruptcy protection.

Interview with NACBAs President Carey Ebert ABI Deputy Executive Director Felicia S. Turner talks with Carey Ebert, the current president of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) and a partner with Ebert Law Offices, P.C. in Forth Worth, Texas. A consumer and small business bankruptcy practitioner for over 20 years, Carey discusses NACBA's 2009 agenda as well as proposed changes to bankruptcy law being considered on Capitol Hill, including BAPCPA and current mortgage modification proposals.

Examining the Effects of the Economic Crisis on Higher Education ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano talks with Dr. Karen Gross, the president of Southern Vermont College (Bennington, Vt.). A former bankruptcy law professor at New York University Law School, Gross is also the founder and former president of the Coalition for Consumer Bankruptcy Debtor Education. Providing her unique perspective on the impact of the economic crisis on higher education, Gross discusses the current recession, student debt and heightened accountability in higher education spending.

ABI Interview with Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney on the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights The latest ABI podcast features a discussion between ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) about legislation that Maloney is sponsoring titled the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act. H.R. 627 would prohibit issuers from raising rates on existing balances retroactively, require a 45-day notice of any rate increase and ban billing on balances for days not included in the last billing cycle as a result of a grace period. It is similar to rules promulgated by the Federal Reserve that will go into effect in July 2010, but contains some additional consumer protection. The bill passed the House of Representatives on April 30 by an overwhelming margin (357-70) and now moves on to the Senate for consideration. Maloney was elected to Congress in 1992 and has established a reputation as an advocate for consumer-protection issues, especially those to protect consumers from predatory credit c

Scholars Rethink the Government Muscular Role in Chrysler Bankruptcy The latest ABI podcast features a discussion between ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano and a panel of bankruptcy scholars examining the government's role in Chrysler and what it suggests about the coming GM bankruptcy. Profs. Mark Roe of Harvard Law School, David Skeel of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Todd Zywicki of the George Mason University School of Law give their thoughts on the manner in which the federal government has inserted itself into the chapter 11 process. The experts touch on such topics as whether the government has the power to pick the winners and losers among the stakeholders in bankruptcy cases, if the process engineered for Chrysler is a violation of the Code's absolute priority rule and what the future effects are on lenders who now must weigh new potential risks of their investments.

Dr. Robert Manning on the New Credit Card Law The latest ABI podcast features a discussion between ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano and Dr. Robert Manning, the Director of the Center for Consumer Financial Services at Rochester Institute of Technology, author of Credit Card Nation and founder of the Responsible Debt Relief Institute. One of the leading experts on household debt, spending and the consumer lending industry, Manning discusses the some of the provisions of the Credit CARD Act signed into law last month by President Barack Obama.

Equity Stripping Led to Foreclosures According to New California Study A new study of more than 4,000 California foreclosures suggests that borrower behavior, such as equity stripping and multiple liens, is a principal culprit, even more than market forces. Prof. Michael LaCour-Little of California State University-Fullerton, discusses his findings in a podcast with ABI Executive Director Sam Gerdano.For a summary of the study's findings, please click hereTo read the full study, Follow the Money: A Close Look at Recent Southern California Foreclosures,' please click here.

Securitization Not to Blame for Servicer Reluctance to Modify Mortgages A new study by Federal Reserve researchers found that government initiatives to stem the country's mounting foreclosures are hampered because banks and other lenders in many cases have more financial incentive to let borrowers lose their homes than to work out settlements. ABI Executive Director Sam Gerdano discusses the study Why Don't Lenders Renegotiate More Home Mortgages? Redefaults, Self-Cures, and Securitization with two of the study's authors, Dr. Paul Willen and Dr. Kristopher Gerardi. Willen is a Senior Economist and Policy Advisor in the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and Gerardi is a research economist and assistant policy adviser in the research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Please note that the views presented in the study and on the podcast are those of the authors, not official statements by the Federal Reserve.

Americas Addiction to Debt As high levels of household debt look to push over 1.4 million Americans into bankruptcy in 2009, ABI Executive Director Sam Gerdano discusses consumer addiction to debt with Dr. Charles Geisst, the author of the recently published Collateral Damaged: The Marketing of Consumer Debt to America. Professor of finance at Manhattan College and author of seventeen books, Dr. Geisst extensively studies and writes about issues concerning consumer debt and finance from Wall Street to main street America. The podcast examines the history of consumer debt and what policies and proposals might be effective in reversing the current economic downturn.

A Preview Of Chapter 11 At The Crossroads ABIs Legislative Symposium In November Providing a preview of ABI's upcoming Legislative Symposium to examine the future of corporate restructurings on a policy level, ABI Executive Director Sam Gerdano speaks with the architect of the event, ABI President Bob Keach of Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson PA (Portland, Maine). The Chapter 11 at the Crossroads: Does Reorganization Need Reform? Legislative Symposium will take place at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 16-17. Funded by ABI's Anthony H.N. Schnelling Endowment Fund, the Symposium is a free event for ABI members, congressional staff, researchers, scholars and the press. The Symposium faculty will re-examine the traditional framework of insolvency law against today's headlines and consider new ways going forward.

Examining the Intersection of Bankruptcy Law and Sports Franchise Rules As the Phoenix Coyotes recently emerged from bankruptcy ABI Executive Director Sam Gerdano discusses some of the unique aspects of the case with the Coyotes lead attorney Thomas J. Salerno of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP. With Bankruptcy Judge Redfield Baum's approval of the Coyotes' sale to the NHL on Nov. 2, Salerno talks about some of the challenges presented by the case when bankruptcy law intersected with sports franchise rules.

Economic Lessons for Today from the Great Depression The newest ABI podcast is a conversation with economic historian and Bloomberg columnist Amity Shlaes, author of the best-selling book, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression. Shlaes discusses the parallels between FDR's economic policies and the current administration, each reacting to crises of historic proportions. Shlaes was the keynote speaker at the ABI Winter Leadership Conference.