Chrysler Lenders Must Reveal Identities Today, Judge Rules


By Tiffany Kary

May 6 (Bloomberg) -- Chrysler LLC dissident lenders have until 10 a.m.
today to reveal their identities after a bankruptcy judge rejected
claims that their safety was at risk because of anger over the
automaker’s bankruptcy.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez in New York forced the group to
file a list of its members publicly, denying their request to reveal
their identities only to the bankruptcy court. Gonzalez said yesterday
the lenders have no evidence that keeping their identities private would
help protect them. The group seeks to block an auction of most company
assets to an entity managed by Fiat SpA, an outcome Chrysler said would
force it to liquidate, costing thousands of jobs.

“There’s no evidence that authorities found the threats bona-fide,”
Gonzalez said, questioning whether the group was trading in and out of
Chrysler’s debt. He was told the group is a mix of original debt holders
and parties who bought the debt at different prices.

Hedge funds have been denied bids to keep their identities confidential
in other cases, amid concerns about whether short- term trading
interests or credit default swaps give them conflicts of interest in
bankruptcy proceedings. Gonzalez compared his ruling to a 2007 decision
from U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Allan Gropper, who forced a group of
hedge funds that invested in Northwest Airlines Corp. to fully disclose
the size of its members’ stakes in the carrier.

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