About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


89 B.U. L. Rev. 1609 (2009)
The Shadow Bankruptcy System

handle is hein.journals/bulr89 and id is 1621 raw text is: THE SHADOW BANKRUPTCY SYSTEM JONATHAN C. LIPSON* IN TRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1612 I. STANDING IN THE SHADOWS - THE TRANSPARENT SYSTEM CONGRESS THOUGHT IT CREATED .................................................... 1620 A . Transparency Events ................................................................. 1621 B. Structural Transparency ............................................................ 1624 C. Nonbankruptcy Restructurings .................................................. 1629 D. Past as Prologue - William 0. Douglas and the Roots of Transparency ............................................................................. 1632 II. CASTING THE SHADOWS: THREE CHALLENGES TO SYSTEM TRANSPARENCY ................................................................................ 1638 A. Who Goes There? - Claims Trading ......................................... 1638 1. Non-Statutory Committees - The Return of the Protective Com mittee? ........................................................ 1639 2. C laim s Trading .................................................................... 1645 3. Em pty Creditor Voting ........................................................ 1648 4. Committee Manipulation and Information Arbitrage .......... 1649 5. The Costs of Shadow Identity ............................................. 1651 B. W hat D o They Want? ................................................................. 1653 1. H edging Strategies ............................................................... 1653 2. Buy Low , Sell H igh ............................................................. 1656 C. When D o They Want It? ............................................................ 1661 III. SHEDDIN G LIGHT ............................................................................... 1663 A. Regulatory Reform: A Growth Industry .................................... 1664 1. System ic Proposals .............................................................. 1665 2. Bankruptcy-Specific Proposals ............................................ 1667 B . Solutions .................................................................................... 1668 1. Positional D isclosure ........................................................... 1668 a. Triggering Events and Scope ........................................ 1669 Peter J. Liacouras Professor of Law (2009-2014) Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law. Earlier drafts of this article were presented at workshops at the law schools of the University of Wisconsin and Tsinghua University. It has benefited from the comments of, or discussions with, Jane Baron, Hon. Robert Drain, Ed Ellers, Dave Hoffman, Darian Ibrahim, Bob Lawless, Rich Levin, Kathleen G. Noonan, David Skeel, Ray Warner, and Bill Whitford. Noa Kaumeheiwa, Sarah Damiani, Chris DiVirgilio, Tatyana Platonova, and Justin Youkey provided valuable research assistance, and Erica Maier provided excellent administrative support. Some of the observations made here first appeared on Concurring Opinions, http://www.concurringopinions.com (last visited Oct. 10, 2009). This project received generous financial support from the Clifford Scott Green Chair and Research Fund in Law, and Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law. Errors and omissions are mine. 1609