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McKinsey Settles Over Bankruptcy Conflicts; Evergrande Unit To Sell Shares; How Covid Fixed Retail

By Andrew Scurria

 

Good day and welcome to WSJ Pro Bankruptcy's Daily Briefing. It's Monday, Nov. 22. Here's what you need to know: McKinsey reached a settlement with U.S. authorities over alleged shortcomings in insider-trading controls around its restructuring work. China Evergrande's electric-vehicle unit is selling shares to raise cash. And despite predictions that the pandemic would accelerate the decline of brick-and-mortar, many retailers are emerging stronger.

 

Top News

McKinsey settled the SEC’s investigation without admitting or denying wrongdoing.
PHOTO: CHARLES PLATIAU/REUTERS

McKinsey paying $18 million to settle SEC probe over insider-trading controls. McKinsey & Co. has agreed to pay $18 million to settle allegations that it didn’t adequately guard against the risk of insider trading involving investments in bankrupt companies it advised, including Alpha Natural Resources Inc. and SunEdison Inc. The settlement tracks the findings of a Wall Street Journal investigation into McKinsey's conflicts of interest in its bankruptcy consulting work.

 
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Bankruptcy

J&J talc claimants will seek to dismiss bankruptcy. Personal-injury claimants alleging Johnson & Johnson's talc products caused cancer said they will seek to dismiss the bankruptcy proceedings it filed to drive a settlement. In court papers Friday, a committee of talc claimants outlined a series of steps they expect to take to challenge the chapter 11 filing by LTL Management LLC, the J&J subsidiary containing its talc-related liabilities.

J&J filed the unit for bankruptcy in North Carolina before the chapter 11 case was shipped to New Jersey at the request of some injury victims. The talc committee said it would file in New Jersey a request to dismiss the bankruptcy as being filed in bad faith. A request to allow talc lawsuits to resume against J&J is also forthcoming.

Talc litigation against the company, which isn't itself in bankruptcy, is currently on hold through mid-January. J&J has said the proceeding is the best and fairest way to compensate talc users, though the company maintains its products are safe and don't cause cancer. — Andrew Scurria

Owner of 'The One' megamansion eyes 2022 bankruptcy auction. The owner of the Los Angeles mega-mansion "The One" is planning to hold a bankruptcy auction for the opulent property in early 2022. Lawyers guiding the residence through chapter 11 said in a filing Thursday in the US Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles that they expect the mansion developed by Nile Niami will sell as-is for close to its $325 million value.

A company owned by Mr. Niami that was put into chapter 11 last month has hired brokers who are showing the property to prospective buyers, according to court papers. The One, which had been listed for as much as $500 million, is "in nearly complete condition," court papers say. — Jonathan Randles

 

Economy

Fed governor Lael Brainard.
PHOTO: AL DRAGO/BLOOMBERG NEWS

Biden nears endgame on Fed Chair decision. President Biden faces one of the most important economic policy decisions of his presidency, which is expected this week, when deciding who should lead the Federal Reserve when Chairman Jerome Powell’s term expires in February.

 

International

China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group’s market value exceeded that of many global rivals earlier this year.
PHOTO: QILAI SHEN/BLOOMBERG NEWS

China Evergrande’s electric-vehicle business to raise $347 million. China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd. is planning to raise around $347 million from a share placement in an effort to strengthen its financial position and fund production of electric vehicles. Evergrande Auto has been affected by the financial troubles of its parent, a leading real-estate developer in China that has teetered on the brink of default.

 

Distress

PHOTO: EDUARDO MUNOZ/REUTERS

Pandemic helped fix the retail industry's ills. The Covid-19 pandemic was supposed to deliver a knockout punch to department stores and specialty retailers. Instead, many of them are bouncing back healthier. Even the supply-chain problems bedeviling companies have produced a silver lining: it has helped retailers break a cycle—at least temporarily—of overbuying and discounting that has eroded profits for decades.

“It’s not pile it high and let it fly anymore."

— Joanne Crevoiserat, CEO of Coach parent Tapestry Inc.
 

White Collar

Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos, during her trial last week.
PHOTO: JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES

Did Elizabeth Holmes prosecution prove intent? Over 11 weeks of testimony, prosecutors in trial of Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes presented a narrative of a CEO who repeatedly fabricated the successes of her technology. They now have to hope they convinced jurors her behavior rose to the level of criminal fraud.

 

About Us

Share your tips, suggestions and feedback with the WSJ Pro Bankruptcy team: Soma Biswas; Alexander Gladstone; Jonathan Randles; Alexander Saeedy; Andrew Scurria; Becky Yerak. 

Follow us on Twitter: @SomaBisWSJ; @gladstonea; @Sparkyrandles; @ajsaeedy; @AndrewScurria; @beckyyerak.

 
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