Posted on 12/29/2001 12:19:28 AM PST by paltz
Credit Suisse First Boston on Friday quit its position on the creditors' committee for Enron, the bankrupt US energy trading company, after only two weeks in the job.
The departure came as Enron won bankruptcy court approval to sell assets, amid calls by President George W. Bush for the US government to examine the Enron collapse.
Credit Suisse Group's investment banking division said it was not worthwhile to participate on the committee because it did not believe its losses from Enron would be more than $100m.
The CSFB representatives had attended just one meeting, and resigned two weeks after the 15-member committe was formed.
Membership on such committees is typically sought-after because it gives banks and other investors greater influence over the failed company's restructuring. It also gives them access to detailed information about the state of the company.
Meanwhile, Enron won bankruptcy court approval in New York to complete two previously planned asset sales that will raise about $310m as it attempts to restructure. Enron will now be able to sell two wind power generating plants in West Texas for $175m to American Electric Power, the integrated utility.
Enron has also agreed to sell its interest in electricity generated by the Sundance Power Generation Plant in Alberta for $135m to AltaGas and TransCanada Energy.
Mr Bush said he was "deeply concerned about the citizens of Houston who worked for Enron, who lost life savings".
Senior management at the stricken energy trader and the Republican party are known to have close relationships.
Mr Bush said he had had no contact with Kenneth Lay, Enron chief executive, or other Enron officials, over the past six weeks.
"It's very troubling to read the stories about those who...had their Enron stock locked up in their 401(k) [retirement] plans and then saw their savings dissipate," he said.
Mr Bush said it was "very important to understand what took place" in Enron's collapse, the largest bankruptcy in US history.
Who said anything about obstructionist?
More like CYA....
No, nor do I care, Clinton's not President anymore.
Are we suposed to say Clinton sucked but Bush doesn't suck as much, so Bush is better?
They all take lots of money from wherever they can get it. They all (both parties) play the same blame game and this one happens to be BIG....
The $550,025 that the Enron Corp. gave Bush over the years makes it his No. 1 career patron,
POWER SCAM: THE ENRON BUSH CONNECTION
Am I saying it's wrong?...No, but it doesn't look good either.
BTW, I can't find the article but Bush had Lay appointing/approving cabinet members for him too.....
If you can't prove it, then don't say it.
What you said. (hic!)
Tell it sister!
I was at an event yesterday where a partisan speaker proclaimed that this would be "Whitewater" for Bush. If this had been Clinton the company would not have failed because he would have breached any ethical boundary to save them.
Kudos to Bush on this one.
Hmmm, no mention of the investigation into Enron funneling illegal campaign donations to Democrats in this article. Innocent ommission?
"One thing that should come up in the hearings is then-Gov. Bush's October 1997 telephone call on behalf of Lay to then-Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge to help Enron crack into the tightly regulated Pennsylvania electricity market.
"I called George W. to kind of tell him what was going on," Lay told the New York Times about the 1997 phone call, "and I said that it would be very helpful to Enron, which is obviously a large company in the state of Texas, if he could just call the governor [of Pennsylvania] and tell him [Enron] is a serious company, this is a professional company, a good company."
Since we now know Enron lacked those virtues, it's clear Bush was used to sell a bill of goods to the unsuspecting Pennsylvania folks.
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