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interessanter Artikel aus Dow Jones Newswires, über Reuters erschienen:
22:51 16Jun10 -DJ Washington Mutual Faces Shareholder Revolt, Threat Of Probe
DJ Washington Mutual Faces Shareholder Revolt, Threat Of Probe
By Peg Brickley
Of DOW JONES DAILY BANKRUPTCY REVIEW
Washington Mutual Inc. (WAMUQ) heads into a key bankruptcy court hearing
Thursday with a judge in Delaware threatening to order a special probe and a
judge in Tacoma, Wash., ready to rule on the next phase of an attempted palace
coup by shareholders.
After hearing shareholder complaints the company was blocking their access to
information, Judge Mary Walrath in Delaware earlier this month signaled she is
ready to summon an outside investigator to look into the bank holding company's
loss of its prized thrift, Washington Mutual Bank, or WaMu, to regulatory
seizure.
Washington Mutual says Walrath lost jurisdiction over the probe issue, but
shareholders say the ball is back in her court, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
Wilmington, Del.
Shareholders have also been pleading their case against Washington Mutual
before Judge Paul Snyder of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Tacoma, Wash.
The Washington case seeks to force the company to hold an annual meeting,
where shareholders hope to oust the board. Snyder is expected to say Thursday
where the shareholder case goes next.
The company says the case should be dismissed, stayed, or joined with an
existing adversary proceeding in Delaware bankruptcy court, or put before a
federal judge in Delaware. Shareholders say the matter involves corporate
governance issues that belong in state court, where the case started. They're
willing to see it go back to Walrath in the Delaware bankruptcy court, because
she has already said the shareholder case is suitable for hearing in Washington
state.
Behind the legal arguments, the issue is timing. Keeping the shareholder case
in federal court means delay. Getting it into state court means shareholders have
a shot at getting before a judge before Washington Mutual renders the case
pointless by getting its Chapter 11 plan confirmed.
During arguments on the shareholder matter, Snyder indicated he's inclined to
leave it up to Walrath to decide whether she wants to keep the matter before her,
or send it back to state court, where it started.
"Since she's more acquainted with the case, why shouldn't she make the
decision as to whether she wants to keep it or wants to send it back to state
court?" Snyder asked at a court hearing Friday.
His ruling is expected Thursday, in the midst of a hearing where Washington
Mutual will try once again to get permission to start polling creditors on its
Chapter 11 plan.
An earlier effort stalled when shareholders complained the company was
blocking their access to information.
Washington Mutual's Chapter 11 plan sets out how some $7 billion of cash will
be distributed to cover an estimated $8 billion of debts. There's nothing for
shareholders under the plan, which is based on a settlement of potential lawsuits
over the loss of WaMu.
Lawyers for the company say the settlement is a good deal, heading off years
of delay and uncertainty that would be certain to eat up cash if Washington
Mutual were to go to court over WaMu.
A shareholder revolt was already in full swing when the settlement was
announced.
The proposed pact calls for an end to hostilities among Washington Mutual,
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) over WaMu's
collapse.
J.P. Morgan bought WaMu after the seizure, in a deal that shareholders say
was tainted by regulatory mishandling. WaMu's failure at the height of anxiety
about the stability of the financial system has been the subject of congressional
hearings.
In a court filing this week, shareholders say Washington Mutual "made hardly
any attempt" to investigate the takeover of WaMu, and the quick, $1.9 billion
sale to J.P. Morgan.
The deliberation behind the deal, or alleged lack of it, will be a key
element of a brewing Chapter 11 confirmation fight.
If she is to confirm Washington Mutual's Chapter 11 plan, Walrath must find
the settlement is a reasonable resolution of a sprawling collection of legal
claims. Legal actions over WaMu include everything from technical infractions of
loan documents to allegations of fraud and mismanagement.
(Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review covers news about distressed companies and
those under bankruptcy protection.)
-By Peg Brickley, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review; 302-521-2266;
peg.brickley@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
Wednesday, 16 June 2010 22:51:46DJN [nDJRG023D6] {C}ENDS
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