In a bankruptcy filing in the U.S. (think Refco), segregated futures accounts have seniority over other creditors and equity holders, so futures account holders get paid first.

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Under the reorganization plan, secured bank debt incurred before the bankruptcy as well as unsecured bond debt and certain general unsecured claims will be cancelled with those creditors receiving equity in the reorganized company.

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After creditors of Chrysler , America's third-largest car company, rejected government requests to slash the company's secured debt by 85%, the Treasury reportedly proposed cutting it by 78% and giving the creditors a 5% equity stake.

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In debt exchanges, companies typically ask creditors to swap current debt for equity, new debt with a lesser value that matures later, or a combination of the two.

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The possiblity of fiscal cliff malaise could squeeze creditors, and make any bankers and private equity partners nervous about joining Schulze.

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Yet another provision reduces your exemption if in the ten years before bankruptcy, you attempted to defraud creditors by liquidating nonexempt assets and pumping the cash into home equity.

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Because these loans arent securedindeed, get repaid only after secured creditors are satisfiedthe lender is going to demand several points over prime plus equity or warrants.

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If things go south for U.S. steel, into a default situation, the loss on the equity is absorbed by the gains on the CDS, which would pay out the inverse of whatever creditors recover.

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Essentially Citigroup is contesting a decision made by Mr Bondi to exclude it from the list of Parmalat's creditors, a step that would, if upheld, keep the bank out of a future debt-for-equity swap prior to Parmalat's re-flotation on the stockmarket.

ECONOMIST: Parmalat