November/December 2017
Feature Article
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Planning Is Key to Treatment of Charities’ Endowment Funds in Bankruptcy
The charitable nonprofit form creates unique issues of corporate governance. Officers and directors owe fiduciary duties to their charitable institutions, and insolvency or reorganization complicates issues, particularly with regard to the handling of endowment funds. Donors can specify how gifts are to be spent, making those funds restricted and inviolable from general use. Having restricted endowment […]
More from this Issue
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Congratulations to the 2017 TMA Chapter Award Winners
TMA Chicago/Midwest: Operational Excellence (Mega Chapter) A Student Internship Competition was created in 2016 and was offered to interns at companies who are annual sponsors. The competition promotes young professionals exploring careers in corporate restructuring and enhances TMA’s visibility in the industry. In addition to this new initiative, the chapter has an annual budget/strategy meeting to […] -
Newcomers: November/December
Alabama Jack N. Roby III, Fountain Parker Harbarger & Associates LLCRyan Thompson, Maynard Cooper & Gale PCJames Warboys, Linklaters LLP Arizona Tanner Herrick, First American Title Insurance Co.Anoop K. Kumar, Maricopa CountyLauren Peterson, GlassRatner Advisory & Capital Group LLC Atlanta Joshua M. Kreisman, GlassRatner Advisory & Capital Group LLCBlake B. Lueder, FTI ConsultingAimee P. Sanders, […] -
Milestones
David A. Agay has been named the new managing member of the Chicago office of McDonald Hopkins LLC, succeeding Richard N. Kessler, who served as the managing member in Chicago since 2007. Agay, a corporate restructuring attorney who joined the firm in 2011, previously served as the Chicago office’s assistant managing member. He practices in […] -
Marti P. Murray: Changing Stripes
Marti P. Murray is the founder and president of Murray Analytics in New York City. She also founded Murray Capital Management, a distressed debt-focused hedge fund, in 1995 and served as the firm’s president and portfolio manager. The firm’s distressed debt business was acquired by Babson Capital in April 2008. Before founding Murray Analytics, Murray […] -
Sears, SRG, and the Economics of Fraudulent Conveyance
In 2015, Sears sold a portion of its real estate holdings to Seritage (SRG), a newly formed real estate investment trust (REIT) owned by existing Sears shareholders, in a $2.7 billion sale-leaseback transaction. The real estate holdings consisted of existing Sears retail locations, and as part of the transaction, Sears continued to operate these stores […] -
How a Healthy Internal Operating Environment Drives Financial Success
When bankruptcy and restructuring professionals evaluate the health of a company, they typically focus on the pieces of information that they can touch—balance sheets, cash flow statements, working capital. They look at liquidity, solvency, and profit and loss. They also look at the company’s external operating environment, including economic indicators, global forces, market influences, and […] -
Disposing of Nonprofits’ Assets Is No Simple Task
Disposing of assets of a nonprofit corporation, whether tax-exempt or taxable—or liquidating or dissolving such an entity—can be wrought with traps for those unfamiliar with the additional legal regimes and other considerations that overlay nonprofit organizations. Unlike their for-profit brethren, which include corporations, limited liability companies, and partnerships, nonprofit corporations are not free to dispose […] -
Mission vs. Creditor Interests: Nonprofit Directors’ Fiduciary Duties
“The most useful and influential people in America are those who take the deepest interest in institutions that exist for the purpose of making the world better.” What Booker T. Washington recognized in 1901 holds true today. More than 25 percent of adults volunteer with nonprofit organizations, contributing an estimated 8.7 billion hours valued at […] -
Inside the Mind of a Fraudster
Unfortunately, theft from charitable organizations is neither rare nor insignificant. The Internal Revenue Service, which began collecting diversion data in 2008 from the larger nonprofits that are registered with the agency, reported that 285 diversions involving total losses of more than $170 million were reported for 2009.1 A separate study found that nonprofit organizations are […] -
Planning Is Key to Treatment of Charities’ Endowment Funds in Bankruptcy
The charitable nonprofit form creates unique issues of corporate governance. Officers and directors owe fiduciary duties to their charitable institutions, and insolvency or reorganization complicates issues, particularly with regard to the handling of endowment funds. Donors can specify how gifts are to be spent, making those funds restricted and inviolable from general use. Having restricted endowment […] -
Troubled Nonprofits Face Unique Challenges
Nonprofits are big business, with more than 1 million entities contributing 5 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. The size and prevalence of nonprofits are also visible in the donations of time and treasure. Last year, more than 63 million Americans volunteered their services to nonprofits, and $389 billion was donated to charities, a […]