Kirsten vuelve a la carga...
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2010/01/04/daily43.html
WaMu shareholders could get seat at bankruptcy table
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - by Kirsten Grind
After fighting for more than a year, Washington Mutual shareholders are close to gaining crucial representation in the bank holding company’s bankruptcy, a move that would allow them a piece of any money that is divvied up among creditors.
The Office of the U.S. Trustee is holding a meeting for WaMu shareholders in Delaware on Monday to try to form a so-called equity committee to represent shareholders. If enough shareholders show up or indicate their willingness to serve on the committee, it would be formed to represent shareholders in WaMu’s ongoing bankruptcy in U.S. District Court in Delaware, according to the trustee’s office.
Formation of the committee would be a victory in a hard-fought battle for WaMu’s millions of worldwide common shareholders and would have widespread implications for the future of the bankruptcy case.
It would give shareholders a chance to recoup at least some of the $7 billion in wealth that remained before Seattle-based WaMu was seized by federal regulators on Sept. 25, 2008. Its holding company filed for bankruptcy the following day.
Although shareholders are at the bottom of the bank holding company’s list of creditors, an equity committee would give them a shot at the billions of dollars that are at stake in the bankruptcy. The holding company claims $4 billion in deposits as assets, but JPMorgan Chase & Co., which purchased WaMu out of receivership, is fighting for that money in court. A recent operating report from the holding company shows that it could receive an additional $2.6 billion in tax refunds that would also count as assets.
“This is wonderful news,” said Ted Mitchell, a WaMu shareholder in North Carolina who lost $130,000 in the bank’s collapse. “The common shareholders don’t stand a chance without the equity committee.”
Shareholders tried once before to organize an equity committee after WaMu was seized, but were denied by the trustee, said Michael Rozenfeld, a shareholder who was active in pushing for the committee early in the process.
Shareholders then launched a grassroots effort to advocate for such a committee, collecting thousands of letters from WaMu shareholders worldwide.
“A lot of people got involved and it made the difference,” Rozenfeld said.
There is still a chance that a committee won’t be formed on Monday. And even if it is, WMI has a right to appeal the formation, which would force the court to rule on its existence. The holding company, Washington Mutual Inc., declined comment Thursday.
