July 19, 2010, update 2: There were two filings of note today. The Equity Committee filed a motion asking for permission to file a "supplemental statement" under seal in support of (1) its motion for the appointment of an examiner and (2) the "timing for resolution of the shareholder meeting". It is not clear if the statement to be filed under seal is different from the one which was the topic of the Equity Committee's similar July 7 filing, but the addition of the new second part, referring to the shareholder meeting, suggests that there may be new information unearthed by the Equity Committee. From the filing: "The Supplemental Statement may relate to the substance of the discussion between the parties and the Court during the Chambers conference held on July 8, 2010. Because the Chambers conference was not open to the public, and out of an abundance of caution, the Equity Committee respectfully requests that it be permitted to file the Supplemental Statement under seal to protect the confidential discussions that occurred in Chambers."
Also today the FDIC filed a "limited objection" to the Equity Committee's motion for an examiner. The FDIC's objection is apparently limited to the scope of the examiner's duties, not the idea itself of an examiner. The FDIC would like to limit the examiner's investigation to just those issues surrounding WMI's Plan of Reorganization and the associated Global Settlement Agreement, whereas the Equity Committee has proposed a much wider scope. The FDIC proposes in its filing that "the scope of investigation by an examiner should be focused on: (a) whether the Debtors’ board of directors acted reasonably in determining whether to enter into the Settlement Agreement, (b) whether the negotiations which led to the Settlement Agreement were free from collusion and undue influences, and (c) whether the Debtors’ board, management or professionals had conflicts of interest in connection with the Settlement Agreement." With friends like the FDIC, WMI (and its board of directors and legal professionals) certainly doesn't need any enemies!
July 19, 2010: There has been little to report since the previous hearing on July 8. Filings in bankruptcy court have been mostly of the administrative type. What we do know is that starting last Monday, July 12, numerous parties in this bankruptcy case, including the Equity Committee, were going to meet to have "some ongoing dialogue" that could result in "an understanding with respect to the multitude of issues" that were postponed from the July 8 hearing.
The impetus for that postponement, the lengthy meetings in the judge's chambers on July 8, and the "ongoing dialogue", seems to be a filing from the Equity Committee on the evening of July 7. In this filing the Equity Committee requested that it be allowed to file additional information supporting its motion to appoint an examiner under seal - meaning it would not be made public. The subject of the motion to seal is "a confidential document that was produced to the Equity Committee" by WMI, and the justification for sealing is bankruptcy law which requires the sealing of "a trade secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial information."
The current agenda for tomorrow's hearing contains all of the items postponed from the July 8 hearing, including the Equity Committee's motion to appoint an examiner and WMI's motion to approve its Disclosure Statement. It is not unusual for an amended agenda to be filed the day before a hearing, and, based on recent hearings, the stated agenda could be radically revised at the time of the hearing. We will report here the results of tomorrow's hearing.