/raid1/www/Hosts/bankrupt/TCREUR_Public/121228.mbx
T R O U B L E D C O M P A N Y R E P O R T E R
E U R O P E
Friday, December 28, 2012, Vol. 13, No. 257
Headlines
A U S T R I A
BAWAG PSK: Court Acquits Floettl in Suit Over Misusing Funds
C Y P R U S
* CYPRUS: Russia Unlikely to Grant EUR5-Bil. Loan Due to Risks
F R A N C E
CAPTAIN BIDCO: S&P Lowers Corporate Credit Rating to 'CCC+'
G E R M A N Y
SIC PROCESSING: German Court Orders DIP Process
G R E E C E
* GREECE: Needs to Reinvigorate Tax Evasion Crackdown, IMF Says
I R E L A N D
ANGLO IRISH: Ex-Chief Faces Charges Over Bank Irregularities
* IRELAND: Needs to Ease Bank Debt to Successfully Exit Bailout
N E T H E R L A N D S
ICTS INTERNATIONAL: Incurs US$4.3MM Loss in First Half of 2012
S P A I N
BANKIA: Parent Has Negative Value of EUR10.4 Billion
METROVACESA SA: Majority Shareholders Agree to Delisting
U N I T E D K I N G D O M
BEACON OF HOPE: Goes Into Liquidation
BEACON OF HOPE: PKF Accountants Appointed as Liquidators
CHARLES BARKLEY: Court Orders Landbanking Scheme Into Liquidation
GRACECHURCH INVESTMENTS: Faces Censure for Pressuring Clients
X X X X X X X X
* BOOK REVIEW: Ralph H. Kilmann's Beyond the Quick Fix
*********
=============
A U S T R I A
=============
BAWAG PSK: Court Acquits Floettl in Suit Over Misusing Funds
------------------------------------------------------------
Boris Groendahl at Bloomberg News reports that fund manager
Wolfgang Floettl and five others who helped run up as much as
EUR1.7 billion (US$2.3 billion) of losses at Bawag PSK Bank AG
were acquitted of misusing funds after a retrial in Austria's
biggest ever white-collar crime case.
According to Bloomberg, Vienna criminal court spokeswoman
Christina Salzborn said in an e-mailed statement that
Mr. Floettl, 57, the four Bawag managers accused along with him,
and one of the lender's auditors were found not guilty by Judge
Christian Boehm. The court overturned an earlier verdict after
Austria's highest court ordered the retrial in 2010, Bloomberg
recounts.
"The court's main reason for the acquittal was the lack of
evidence for intent and purpose" of the accused, Bloomberg quotes
Ms. Salzborn said.
Mr. Floettl had run up the losses for Bawag, which was then owned
by Austria's trade union federation, from the late 1990s mostly
with wrong-way bets on the Japanese yen, Bloomberg relates. The
losses weren't discovered until U.S. futures broker Refco Inc.
collapsed into bankruptcy in 2006, Bloomberg discloses. Their
discovery eventually forced the union to sell Bawag to private-
equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP in 2007, Bloomberg
recounts.
Former Bawag Chief Executive Officer Helmut Elsner, 77, was
already sentenced to 10 years in jail, the toughest possible
punishment for misuse of funds and other crimes for which he was
convicted, Bloomberg notes.
BAWAG P.S.K. provides various financial and banking products and
services to retail and commercial customers in Austria. It
offers demand, time, savings, and other deposits, as well as
commercial and consumer loans. The company also engages in
treasury, real estate, project financing, social housing, and
leasing activities. As of December 31, 2010, it operated a
network of 150 branches, as well as offered its services through
1,038 post offices in Austria. The company is based in Vienna,
Austria. BAWAG P.S.K. operates as a subsidiary of BAWAG Holding
GmbH.
* * *
As reported by the Troubled Company Reporter-Europe on April 13,
2012, Moody's Investors Service issued a summary credit opinion
on BAWAG P.S.K. and includes certain regulatory disclosures
regarding its ratings. The release does not constitute any change
in Moody's ratings or rating rationale for BAWAG P.S.K..
Moody's current ratings on BAWAG P.S.K. and its affiliates are:
Senior Unsecured (domestic and foreign currency) ratings of
Baa2
Senior Unsecured MTN Program (domestic currency) ratings of
(P)Baa2
Long Term Bank Deposits (domestic and foreign currency) ratings
of Baa2
Bank Financial Strength ratings of D
Senior Subordinate (domestic currency) ratings of Baa3, on
review for downgrade
Subordinate (domestic currency) ratings of Baa3, on review for
downgrade
Subordinate MTN Program (domestic currency) ratings of (P)Baa3,
on review for downgrade
Short Term Bank Deposits (domestic and foreign currency)
ratings of P-2
===========
C Y P R U S
===========
* CYPRUS: Russia Unlikely to Grant EUR5-Bil. Loan Due to Risks
--------------------------------------------------------------
Olga Tanas, Stepan Kravchenko and Scott Rose at Bloomberg News
report that Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said
Russia has no plans to grant a EUR5 billion (US$6.6 billion) loan
requested by Cyprus because the risks are too great to be assumed
by a single creditor.
"We have no specific plans or instructions to do so," Bloomberg
quotes Mr. Storchak as saying in a Dec. 24 interview in Moscow.
"It's obvious that no single creditor can work with Cyprus
alone," Mr. Storchak, as cited by Bloomberg, said. "Anyone who
steps up on an individual basis to finance that country's
government or to help recapitalize its banks would be taking an
enormous risk."
Cyprus, whose public debt is forecast to reach 89.7% of gross
domestic product this year, in late June became the fourth euro-
area nation to request a financial rescue since a 2010 bailout of
Greece, Bloomberg discloses. In addition to seeking aid from its
euro-zone partners and the International Monetary Fund, Cyprus
asked Russia for a fresh loan after borrowing EUR2.5 billion last
year, Bloomberg notes.
Russia's current loan to Cyprus, which matures in 2016, was
intended to help communist Cypriot President Demetris Christofias
stabilize his government's finances, Bloomberg states. Cypriot
lawmaker Stavros Evagorou said on Oct. 13 that the government was
seeking to extend the loan, Bloomberg recounts.
===========
F R A N C E
===========
CAPTAIN BIDCO: S&P Lowers Corporate Credit Rating to 'CCC+'
-----------------------------------------------------------
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered to 'CCC+' from 'B-'
its long-term corporate credit rating on Captain Bidco SAS, a
France-based holding company that owns the French engineering
steel producer Ascometal SAS.
"We also lowered our issue rating on the company's EUR60 million
revolving credit facility to 'B-' from 'B'," S&P said.
"Following these actions, we withdrew both the above ratings at
the issuer's request. The outlook on the long-term rating at the
time of the withdrawal was negative," S&P said.
"The downgrade reflects our expectation in 2013 of a further
sales contraction in the automotive industry in Europe, which
remains Captain Bidco's main end-market. It also reflects our
anticipation of a weaker performance in the second half of 2012
than we previously expected and a likely continued decline in
sales volumes in 2013. We think that the company has limited
financial flexibility and low capacity to absorb low probability
and high impact events. We have therefore revised our liquidity
assessment to 'less than adequate,'" S&P said.
"At the moment of the ratings withdrawal, we thought that Captain
Bidco's credit metrics could further deteriorate in 2013 due to
lagging demand from the automotive industry and the company's
high operating leverage. In the absence of higher EBITDA
generation in 2013, we foresee interest coverage ratios
deteriorating below 1x," S&P said.
"At the time of the withdrawal, the ratings reflected our view of
Captain Bidco's business risk profile as 'weak' and financial
risk profile as 'highly leveraged,'" S&P said.
=============
G E R M A N Y
=============
SIC PROCESSING: German Court Orders DIP Process
-----------------------------------------------
Solar Industry reports that the local court in Amberg, Germany,
has ordered debtor-in-possession proceedings in accordance with
section 270b of the German Insolvency Code (Insolvenzordnung) for
SiC Processing GmbH.
The report says the company's Norwegian subsidiary filed for
insolvency earlier this month after its only customer, REC Wafer
Norway, filed its own insolvency application during the summer.
For SiC Processing GmbH, the court has appointed Dr. Hubert
Ampferl, a partner at Nuremberg, Germany-based law firm Dr. Beck
& Partner, preliminary supervisor, according to Solar Industry.
According to the report, the management of SiC Processing GmbH,
together with law firm Ashurst and the financial restructuring
experts of the Frankfurt-based investment bank Freitag & Co.,
will now work on restructuring the company, in partnership with
Ampferl. The companies must present a plan to the court within
the next three months, the report relays.
The company said operations with existing customers are expected
to remain unchanged as the insolvency proceedings progress, the
report adds.
SiC Processing GmbH is a Germany-based provider of solar slurry
recovery services.
===========
G R E E C E
===========
* GREECE: Needs to Reinvigorate Tax Evasion Crackdown, IMF Says
---------------------------------------------------------------
According to The Telegraph, a report by the European Union and
International Monetary Fund said on Monday that Greece's drive to
crack down on tax evasion risks "falling idle" and must be
reinvigorated.
Athens has collected just half the tax debts and conducted less
than half the audits it was supposed to under the targets set by
its lenders, the Telegraph says, citing a survey by the country's
international lenders which was compiled in November.
The lenders urged Greece to improve tax collection and focus on
the cases most likely to produce results, the Telegraph relates.
Tax evasion is endemic in Greece, making it more difficult for
the government to shore up its finances under its EUR240 billion
international bailout, the Telegraph states.
Improving Greece's slow tax administration and justice is a key
objective of the bailout, the Telegraph says. The report said
that individuals and companies have racked up EUR53 billion of
tax debts to the government, a figure that corresponds to about a
quarter of the country's gross domestic product, the Telegraph
notes.
But just 15%-20% of that amount can be collected, the EU/IMF
said, given that a large number of these tax cases are old and
the debtors have already defaulted, according to the Telegraph.
=============
I R E L A N D
=============
ANGLO IRISH: Ex-Chief Faces Charges Over Bank Irregularities
------------------------------------------------------------
RTE News reports that the former chairman and chief executive of
Anglo Irish Bank, Sean FitzPatrick, has appeared in court on 12
new charges in connection with alleged financial irregularities
at the bank.
The 64-year-old is accused of making false, misleading or
deceptive statements in relation to millions of euro to the
company's auditors, Ernst and Young, over a six-year period, RTE
discloses.
It is alleged that he did not inform the auditors about loans to
himself and others that he had authorized, or about an
arrangement between Anglo and Irish Nationwide Building Society
whereby Irish Nationwide loaned him money, RTE notes.
He was arrested on Dec. 21 as part of an investigation by the
Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation and the Office of the
Director of Corporate Enforcement, RTE relates.
The amounts on the charges are EUR5.1 million in 2002,
EUR14 million in 2003, EUR23 million in 2004, EUR42.1 million in
2005, EUR60.9 million in 2006 and EUR139.8 million in 2007, RTE
discloses.
He is due back at the Dublin District Court on March 1, 2013 for
service of the book of evidence, RTE says.
Anglo Irish Bank was an Irish bank headquartered in Dublin from
1964 to 2011. It went into wind-down mode after nationalization
in 2009. In July 2011, Anglo Irish merged with the Irish
Nationwide Building Society, with the new company being named the
Irish Bank Resolution Corporation.
* IRELAND: Needs to Ease Bank Debt to Successfully Exit Bailout
---------------------------------------------------------------
Reuters reports that Taoiseach Enda Kenny said Ireland expects to
return fully to bond markets late next year but needs a deal on
easing its bank debt to make sure it can successfully exit its
international bailout.
Speaking days before Ireland takes over the six-month EU
presidency, Mr. Kenny told Reuters he was confident an easing of
repayment terms on the promissory notes that Ireland pumped
mainly into the failed Anglo Irish Bank would be agreed by a
March deadline.
He also called on European leaders to stick to a separate promise
to look at improving Ireland's costly bank rescue, Reuters
relates.
Ireland takes over the rotating EU presidency in January for a
six-month period in which it hopes to strike the bank debt deal
with the European Central Bank and pave the way to exit its EU-
IMF rescue program on schedule at the end of 2013, Reuters
discloses.
Reuters notes that while the Government has been chiefly focusing
on trying to change the punishing repayment terms associated with
the promissory notes, it also hopes to retrospectively benefit
from a proposal to allow euro zone rescue funds to recapitalize
at-risk banks.
According to Reuters, a June agreement by euro zone leaders to
look at improving the terms of Ireland's bank rescue helped its
bond yields fall sharply and allowed it to become the first
bailed-out state to borrow on long-term bond markets. It also
began to pre-fund a considerable proportion of the financing it
will need once the EUR85 billion bailout ends next December,
Reuters recounts.
But Ireland is not yet in a position to resume monthly bond
auctions and the International Monetary Fund, one of its lenders,
warned last week that durable market access depended greatly on
Europe delivering on its commitments to the country, Reuters
notes.
=====================
N E T H E R L A N D S
=====================
ICTS INTERNATIONAL: Incurs US$4.3MM Loss in First Half of 2012
--------------------------------------------------------------
ICTS International N.V. filed with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission its financial report on Form 6-K disclosing a
net loss of US$4.27 million on US$51.14 million of revenue for
the six months ended June 30, 2012, compared with a net loss of
US$5.86 million on US$51.73 million of revenue for the same
period during the prior year.
The Company's balance sheet at June 30, 2012, showed US$21.80
million in total assets, US$53.63 million in total liabilities
and a US$31.82 million total shareholders' deficit.
A copy of the Form 6-K is available for free at:
http://is.gd/j5kztH
ICTS International N.V. is a public limited liability company
organized under the laws of The Netherlands in 1992.
ICTS specializes in the provision of aviation security and other
aviation services. Following the taking of its aviation security
business in the United States by the TSA in 2002, ICTS, through
its subsidiary Huntleigh U.S.A. Corporation, engages primarily in
non-security related activities in the USA.
ICTS, through I-SEC International Security B.V., supplies
aviation security services at airports in Europe and the Far
East.
In addition, I-SEC Technologies B.V. including its subsidiaries
develops technological systems and solutions for aviation and
non-aviation security.
Mayer Hoffman McCann CPAs, in New York, N.Y., expressed
substantial doubt about ICTS International's ability to continue
as a going concern following the 2011 financial results. The
independent auditors noted that the Company has a history of
recurring losses from continuing operations, negative cash flows
from operations, working capital deficit, and is in default on
its line of credit arrangement in the United States as a result
of the violation of certain financial and non-financial
covenants.
The Company reported a net loss of US$2.15 million on
US$105.93 million of revenue for 2011, compared with a net loss
of US$8.12 million on US$98.43 million of revenue for 2010.
=========
S P A I N
=========
BANKIA: Parent Has Negative Value of EUR10.4 Billion
----------------------------------------------------
Emma Ross-Thomas at Bloomberg News reports that Spain's bank-
rescue fund said Banco Financiero y de Ahorros, the parent of
Bankia, has negative value of EUR10.4 billion (US$13.8 billion),
as it pledged to recapitalize all the lenders it controls by
year-end.
According to Bloomberg, the FROB rescue fund said in an e-mailed
statement on Wednesday in Madrid that Bankia, BFA's listed unit,
has a negative value of EUR4.15 billion.
BFA-Bankia, the largest recipient of aid from Spain's European
bank bailout, is receiving EUR18 billion of public funds to plug
its capital hole, Bloomberg discloses.
BFA will carry out a capital increase of EUR13.5 billion, which
the FROB will subscribe to using securities issued by the euro
region's European Stability Mechanism rescue fund, Bloomberg
says. ESM securities will also replace EUR4.5 billion of Spanish
treasury bills that Spain injected into Bankia in September as a
stop-gap measure, Bloomberg notes.
Bankia will issue EUR10.7 billion in contingent convertible
bonds, which BFA will buy, and which will convert into ordinary
shares early next year as part of a capital reduction, according
to Bloomberg. That process, which will take place alongside
burden- sharing exercises to impose losses on junior debtholders,
will make sure that the "shareholders are the first to bear
losses or restructuring costs", Bloomberg quotes the FROB as
saying.
Bankia was formed in 2010 from the merger of seven Spanish
savings banks and traded on the stock market last year as part of
the previous government's efforts to clean up an industry reeling
from real estate losses, Bloomberg recounts.
Bankia is a Spanish banking conglomerate that was formed in
December 2010, consolidating the operations of seven regional
savings banks. As of 2012, Bankia is the fourth largest bank of
Spain with 12 million customers.
METROVACESA SA: Majority Shareholders Agree to Delisting
--------------------------------------------------------
Reuters reports that Metrovacesa on Wednesday said its majority
shareholders had agreed to launch a tender offer to buy all
outstanding shares and delist the company, in the latest blow for
Spain's deeply troubled property sector.
According to Reuters, Spanish banks Santander, BBVA, Sabadell and
Popular set the offer price at 2.28 euros per share, a 175%
premium to the current price.
Another shareholder, Bankia, a Spanish bank that was nationalized
in May and is not in a position to join the offer, has committed
to hold onto its shares, while Banesto will sell them to its
parent company Santander before the operation, Reuters dislcoses.
Altogether, the six banks currently own 95.6% of Metrovacesa,
which they obtained four years ago in exchange for its massive
debt, Reuters says. The delisting will cost them EUR99 billion
(US$131.3 billion), Reuters notes.
Metrovacesa is one of the biggest real estate firms that expanded
during Spain's decade-long property boom and ran into trouble
when the bubble burst five years ago, Reuters recounts.
Trading in Metrovacesa shares was suspended at 1610 GMT on
Dec. 19, Reuters relates.
According to Reuters, Metrovacesa faces difficulty in selling its
property assets to cut its EUR5.1 billion of debt because it will
have to compete with a so-called bad bank that Spain set up last
week.
Metrovacesa, which reported in June assets worth EUR7.32 billion,
is the latest of a group of Spanish real estate firms and
building companies that have disappeared or had to drastically
adjust business to survive since the start of the crisis, Reuters
states.
Metrovacesa SA -- http://www.metrovacesa.com/-- is a Spain-based
company active in the real estate sector. Its activities include
the acquisition, purchase, promotion and management of properties
primarily for rental purposes.
===========================
U N I T E D K I N G D O M
===========================
BEACON OF HOPE: Goes Into Liquidation
-------------------------------------
ITV News reports that Beacon of Hope has gone into liquidation.
According to ITV News, PKF Accountants who have been appointed
liquidators say the charity relied on public donations which had
been difficult to maintain in the current economic climate.
Beacon of Hope offers support for terminally ill patients and has
offices in Aberystwyth, Cardigan and Machynlleth.
BEACON OF HOPE: PKF Accountants Appointed as Liquidators
--------------------------------------------------------
Kerry Bailey -- kerry.bailey@uk.pkf.com -- and Jonathan Newell --
jon.newell@uk.pkf.com -- of PKF Accountants & business advisers
were appointed Joint Liquidators of Beacon of Hope - Ffagl
Gobaith on the 17 December 2012.
Beacon of Hope - Ffagl Gobaith was a registered charity which
operated hospice at home services providing support to those with
terminal and life limiting illnesses, and to their families, in
Ceredigion and the Dyfi Valley. Located in Aberystwyth,
Machynlleth and Cardigan, the charity operated a well-respected
service in the community, accepting referrals from the local
Health Authority.
Kerry Bailey, joint liquidator and a partner at of PKF, said:
"Whilst Beacon of Hope - Ffagl Gobaith's nursing services were
funded by the Health Authority and the Welsh Assembly, its
ancillary services were unfunded and relied upon public
donations. Unfortunately these had proved insufficient to cover
the outgoings and, despite a public appeal for donations and the
support of the dedicated and hard-working staff, the company's
directors were left with no alternative in the face of the
resulting insolvency but to place it into liquidation.
"The trustees of the charity and the liquidators have ensured
that all of the patients under the Beacon of Hope's care at the
time of the liquidation have been successfully moved back into
the care of the Health Authority or alternative care agencies,
and there has therefore been no compromise on patient care as a
result of the closure.
"It is disappointing to see such a well respected charitable
service having to come to an end. However, in the prevailing
economic climate many organisations have suffered, no matter how
worthy the cause, and it is regrettable that despite the
excellent work being done in Beacon of Hope's name it has had to
cease all activities."
CHARLES BARKLEY: Court Orders Landbanking Scheme Into Liquidation
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Four connected companies based in London that each mis-sold land
to the public have been put into liquidation following
investigations by the Insolvency Service.
Three of the companies, Charles Barkley Limited, Lawrence Taylor
and Co Ltd and Rayfield Wright Limited were ordered into
liquidation in the High Court on grounds of public interest while
a fourth company, Browne Mackenzie Limited, had earlier entered
into voluntary liquidation.
Each company sold land at different sites around the country, but
they all traded from the same address: Friendly House, 52-58
Tabernacle Street, London, EC2A 4NJ.
The investigation found investors were persuaded to part with
over GBP10 million for plots on the misleading basis that
planning permission was likely to be granted, resulting in a
substantial increase in the value of the plots within two years.
The Court heard how those behind the companies and not investors
had benefited from the scheme, receiving nearly GBP4 million out
of the money raised from the public.
Company Investigations Supervisor Chris Mayhew said:
"All four companies marketed plots of land for sale as an
investment opportunity, a practice commonly referred to as land
banking. Each company followed predominately the same marketing
procedure of cold calling and hard sell tactics, misleading the
public, particularly older investors, into parting with over œ10
million."
"The heavily marked up price of the plots sold imposed inevitable
loss for investors: Charles Barkley Limited and Browne Mackenzie
Limited were also found to have sold more land to investors than
was available."
"Working with other regulatory agencies we have now taken action
against over 100 of these types of scheme and not one has shown a
gain for the investor, some of whom are simply bullied into
handing over their money."
"The Service continues to bring unscrupulous companies before the
Court to send a clear message they will be thoroughly
investigated and closed down."
All public enquiries concerning the affairs of the companies
should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit ,
The Insolvency Service, 4 Abbey Orchard Street, London, SW1P 2HT.
Telephone: 0207 637 1110 E-mail: piu.or@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk
GRACECHURCH INVESTMENTS: Faces Censure for Pressuring Clients
-------------------------------------------------------------
Max Stendahl at Bankruptcy Law360 reports the U.K. Financial
Services Authority on Dec. 20 censured Gracechurch Investments
Ltd. for allegedly pressuring clients to buy risky stocks that
caused at least GBP2 million (US$3.25 million) in losses, and
banned the defunct brokerage's CEO from the financial industry.
Bankruptcy Law360 relates that the FSA also fined the CEO, Sam
Thomas Kenny, about US$730,000. It said it would have fined
Gracechurch US$2.4 million had the firm not been insolvent, in
liquidation and lacking assets.
===============
X X X X X X X X
===============
* BOOK REVIEW: Ralph H. Kilmann's Beyond the Quick Fix
------------------------------------------------------
Author: Ralph H. Kilmann
Publisher: Beard Books
Hardcover: 320 pages
Listprice: $34.95
Review by Henry Berry
Every few years, a new approach is offered for unleashing the
full potential of organized efforts. These are the quick fixes
to which the title of this book refers. The jargon of the quick
fix is familiar to any businessperson: decentralization, human
resources, restructuring, mission statement, corporate strategy,
corporate culture, and so on. These terms are all limited in
scope or objective, and some are even irrelevant or misconceived
with regard to the overall well-being and purpose of a
corporation.
With his extensive experience as a corporate consultant, author
of numerous articles, and professor in business studies, Kilmann
recognizes that each new idea for optimum performance and results
is germane to some area of a corporation. However, he also
recognizes that each new idea inevitably falls short in bringing
positive change -- that is, a change that is spread throughout
the corporation and is lasting. At best, when a corporation
relies on an alluring, and sometimes little more than
fashionable, idea, it is a wasteful distraction. At worst, it
can skew a corporate organization and its operations, thereby
allowing the corporation's true problems or weaknesses to grow
until they become ruinous. As the author puts it, "Essentially,
it is not the single approach of culture, strategy, or
restructuring that is inherently ineffective. Rather, each is
ineffective only if it is applied by itself -- as a "quick fix"."
Kilmann tells corporate leaders how to break the cycle of
embracing a quick fix, discarding it after it proves ineffective,
and then turning to a newer and ostensibly better quick fix that
soon proves to be equally ineffective. For a corporation to
break this self-defeating cycle, the author offers a five-track
program. The five tracks, or elements, of this program are
corporate culture, management skills, team-building, strategy-
structure, and reward system. These elements are interrelated.
The virtue of Kilmann's multidimensional five-track program is
that it addresses a corporation in its entirety, not simply parts
of it.
Kilmann's five tracks offer structural and operational aspects of
a corporation that executives and managers will find familiar in
their day-to-day leadership and strategic thinking. Thus, the
author does not introduce any unfamiliar or radical perspectives
or ideas, but rather advises readers on how to get all parts of a
corporation involved in productive change by integrating the five
tracks into "a carefully designed sequence of action: one by one,
each track sets the stage for the next track." Kilmann does
more, though, than bring all significant features of a modern
corporation together in a five-track program and demonstrate the
interrelation of its elements. His singularly pertinent and
useful contribution is providing a sequence of steps to be
implemented with respect to each track so that a corporation
progresses toward its goals in an integrated way.
Beyond the Quick Fix is a manual for implementing and evaluating
the progress of a five-track program for corporate success. The
book should be read by any corporate leader desiring to bring
change to his or her organization.
Ralph H. Kilmann has been connected with the University of
Pittsburgh for 30 years. For a time, he was its George H. Love
Professor of Organization and Management at its Katz Graduate
School of Business. Additionally, he is president of a firm
specializing in quantum transformations.
*********
Monday's edition of the TCR delivers a list of indicative prices
for bond issues that reportedly trade well below par. Prices are
obtained by TCR editors from a variety of outside sources during
the prior week we think are reliable. Those sources may not,
however, be complete or accurate. The Monday Bond Pricing table
is compiled on the Friday prior to publication. Prices reported
are not intended to reflect actual trades. Prices for actual
trades are probably different. Our objective is to share
information, not make markets in publicly traded securities.
Nothing in the TCR constitutes an offer or solicitation to buy or
sell any security of any kind. It is likely that some entity
affiliated with a TCR editor holds some position in the issuers'
public debt and equity securities about which we report.
Each Tuesday edition of the TCR contains a list of companies with
insolvent balance sheets whose shares trade higher than US$3 per
share in public markets. At first glance, this list may look
like the definitive compilation of stocks that are ideal to sell
short. Don't be fooled. Assets, for example, reported at
historical cost net of depreciation may understate the true value
of a firm's assets. A company may establish reserves on its
balance sheet for liabilities that may never materialize. The
prices at which equity securities trade in public market are
determined by more than a balance sheet solvency test.
A list of Meetings, Conferences and Seminars appears in each
Thursday's edition of the TCR. Submissions about insolvency-
related conferences are encouraged. Send announcements to
conferences@bankrupt.com
Each Friday's edition of the TCR includes a review about a book
of interest to troubled company professionals. All titles are
available at your local bookstore or through Amazon.com. Go to
http://www.bankrupt.com/booksto order any title today.
*********
S U B S C R I P T I O N I N F O R M A T I O N
Troubled Company Reporter-Europe is a daily newsletter co-
published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Fairless Hills,
Pennsylvania, USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Frederick, Maryland
USA. Valerie U. Pascual, Marites O. Claro, Rousel Elaine T.
Fernandez, Joy A. Agravante, Ivy B. Magdadaro, Frauline S.
Abangan and Peter A. Chapman, Editors.
Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. ISSN 1529-2754.
This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale or
publication in any form (including e-mail forwarding, electronic
re-mailing and photocopying) is strictly prohibited without prior
written permission of the publishers.
Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to
be reliable, but is not guaranteed.
The TCR Europe subscription rate is US$625 per half-year,
delivered via e-mail. Additional e-mail subscriptions for
members of the same firm for the term of the initial subscription
or balance thereof are US$25 each. For subscription information,
contact Peter Chapman at 240/629-3300.
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