Welcome to WSJ Pro Bankruptcy's Daily Briefing. It's Thursday, February 5. In today's briefing, the criminal case against former First Brands Group executives netted another guilty plea, and concerns among regulators about private markets.

First Brands ex-CFO pleads guilty to defrauding lenders. First Brands Group's former chief financial officer Stephen Graham has pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and one count of bank fraud following his arrest Monday, court records show.

Graham defrauded and made false statements to the auto-parts supplier’s lenders and financiers, according to charges by the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York. He pled guilty and was released on a $1 million bond pending sentencing.

Graham's arrest follows that of First Brands founder Patrick James and his brother, former executive Edward James, in January. Patrick and Edward James have pleaded not guilty to charges of defrauding lenders ahead of the company’s collapse into bankruptcy last year.

Once the government’s investigation into the brothers is complete, Graham is expected to be sentenced. His former colleague, vice president of finance Peter Andrew Brumbergs, pleaded guilty in late January and is cooperating with the government’s probe.   –Alicia McElhaney

SEC’s Atkins stresses need for ‘guardrails’ for investors in private markets. As concerns about private-markets funds mount, Wall Street’s top regulator on Wednesday reiterated his commitment to opening these investments to more ordinary people. But Paul Atkins, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said this expansion must be balanced with investor protections.

• Meanwhile, Blackstone’s chief legal officer, John Finley, said concerns about the firm’s private-credit fund are overblown. Finley said that lack of liquidity is a positive feature that prevents firms from having to sell assets at fire-sale prices, as fully liquid funds sometimes do.

Canada central banker flags private-credit risk. Concerns about risks lurking in nonbank lending are spreading north of the U.S.

Bank of Canada Gov. Tiff Macklem said much of the riskier lending activity has migrated in recent years to nonbank participants such as hedge funds, pension funds and asset managers, diversifying risk and improving access to financing but also creating new and unforeseen risks.

Unfazed retail investors keep hitting 'buy.' Whatever fresh shocks have rippled through markets, individual investors have kept on buying. 

Restructuring boutique Ensis taps PJT’s Schlappig. Ensis Partners, a boutique advisory firm launched last month by a pair of restructuring veterans, has hired Michael Schlappig from PJT Partners as a partner.

Schlappig was most recently a managing director at PJT’s restructuring and special situation group and had previously worked at Blackstone’s reorganization practice. He has advised on restructurings of AMC Entertainment, Cineworld and Frontier Communications.

Ensis’s co-CEOs Mark Buschmann and Richard Shinder said Schlappig’s arrival will help bolster the firm’s ability to provide sophisticated advice to middle- and upper-middle-market clients as capital structures grow increasingly complex. The firm entered the market as cracks started to show in the private credit market, which has in recent years become a primary lender to middle-market borrowers.  –Jodi Xu Klein

Share your tips, suggestions and feedback with the WSJ Pro Bankruptcy team: Alexander Gladstone; Jodi Xu Klein; Akiko Matsuda; Alicia McElhaney; Andrew Scurria; Becky Yerak. 

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