Deck 22: Bankruptcy, Reorganization, and Liquidation

Question 1

Bankruptcy laws have been used to help reach settlements in major product liability lawsuits. By using financial projections to show that contingent claims against the company jeopardize its existence, agreements are reached, partially satisfying claimants, and allowing the firm to continue operating.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The basic doctrine of fairness under bankruptcy provisions states that claims must be recognized in the order of their legal and contractual priority.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Bankruptcy plays no role in settling labor disputes and product liability
suits. Such issues are outside the bounds of bankruptcy law and are covered by other statutes.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

A central question that must be addressed in bankruptcy proceedings is whether the firm's inability to meet scheduled interest payments results from a temporary cash flow problem or from a potentially permanent problem caused by falling asset values.

Question 5

Even if a firm's cash flow projections indicate that it will soon be unable to meet its interest payments, a bankruptcy case cannot begin until the firm actually defaults on a scheduled payment.

Question 6

One of the actions that can be taken in bankruptcy under the standard of feasibility is to replace existing management with a new team if the quality of management is judged to have been substandard.

Question 7

In the event of bankruptcy under the federal bankruptcy laws, debtholders have a prior claim to a firm's income and assets before both common and preferred stockholders. Moreover, in a bankruptcy all debtholders are treated equally as a single class of claimants.

Question 8

Which of the following statements is most CORRECT?

A) Our bankruptcy laws were enacted in the 1800s, revised in the 1930s, and have remained unaltered since that time.
B) Federal bankruptcy law deals only with corporate bankruptcies. Municipal and personal bankruptcy are governed solely by state laws.
C) All bankruptcy petitions are filed by creditors seeking to protect their claims against firms in financial distress. Thus, all bankruptcy petitions are involuntary as viewed from the perspective of the firm's management.
D) Chapters 11 and 7 are the most important bankruptcy chapters for financial management purposes. If a reorganization plan cannot be worked out under Chapter 11, then the company will be liquidated as prescribed in Chapter 7 of the Act.
E) "Restructuring" a firm's debt can involve forgiving a certain portion of the debt, but it cannot call for changing the debt's maturity or its contractual interest rate.

Question 9

What would be the priority of the claims as to the distribution of assets in a liquidation under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Act? 1 is the highest claim, 5 is the lowest. (1) Trustees' costs to administer and operate the firm.
(2) Common stockholders.
(3) General, or unsecured, creditors.
(4) Secured creditors, who have a claim to the proceeds from the sale of specific property pledged to secure a loan.
(5) Taxes due to federal and state governments.

A) 1, 4, 3, 5, 2
B) 5, 4, 1, 3, 2
C) 4, 1, 5, 3, 2
D) 5, 1, 4, 2, 3
E) 1, 5, 4, 3, 2

Question 10

The primary test of feasibility in a reorganization is whether the firm's fixed charges after reorganization can be covered by its projected cash flows.