BSA Considering Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

[Just_A_Guy]

7 hours ago, Vort said:

A Cub Scout reciting the (Boy) Scout Law? Impressive.

They’ve been doing that for a couple years now—the Cub Scout Promise and Law of the Pack have gone the way of the dodo.  

[MarginOfError]

When I enrolled my daughter in the Tiger den, I was skeptical that she'd pick up the oath or law very quickly.  She memorized it in about three weeks.  The slowest of the kids in her den picked it up in about five.  Turns out cool looking patches are great motivators at that age.  

I don't get the impression that this bankruptcy thing is directly related to the Church dumping the program. The lack of funds didn't  help, but this would allow BSA to potentially restructure its payouts to smaller amounts. The working theory is that, under Chapter 11, the payouts are negotiated to lower values.  If the creditors refuse the lower payout, the other options are to convert to Chapter 7 bankruptcy (in which any assets are liquidated and distributed to creditors) where it's possible that the payout would be even less than negotiated under Chapter 11.

So in a sense, the Church bailing on scouting may actually turn into a Get Out of Jail Free Card, as the BSA may be able to reduce its payouts and restructure itself into a stronger financial position.

All-in-all, a fairly shrewd maneuver on the part of the BSA.

Edited December 19, 2018 by MarginOfError

[Just_A_Guy]

3 hours ago, MarginOfError said:

When I enrolled my daughter in the Tiger den, I was skeptical that she'd pick up the oath or law very quickly.  She memorized it in about three weeks.  The slowest of the kids in her den picked it up in about five.  Turns out cool looking patches are great motivators at that age.  

I don't get the impression that this bankruptcy thing is directly related to the Church dumping the program. The lack of funds didn't  help, but this would allow BSA to potentially restructure its payouts to smaller amounts. The working theory is that, under Chapter 11, the payouts are negotiated to lower values.  If the creditors refuse the lower payout, the other options are to convert to Chapter 7 bankruptcy (in which any assets are liquidated and distributed to creditors) where it's possible that the payout would be even less than negotiated under Chapter 11.

So in a sense, the Church bailing on scouting may actually turn into a Get Out of Jail Free Card, as the BSA may be able to reduce its payouts and restructure itself into a stronger financial position.

All-in-all, a fairly shrewd maneuver on the part of the BSA.

Except that “creditors” in this case = “sex abuse victims”; and I got the impression from the email BSA circulated that from a PR standpoint that’s the narrative they fear the most:  the idea that they’re looking for a way to let these claims go unfulfilled.

BSA can’t have it both ways.  Either

a) their financial stress is due to forty-year-old sex abuse claims, but they’re still going to pay them in full; in which case bankruptcy avails them nothing;

b) their financial stress is due to forty-year-old sex abuse claims that BSA, in spite of their hifalutin’ rhetoric, intends to default on (or pay at less than their true value); or 

c) their financial stress has nothing to do with these claims, and BSA is just plain incompetent at managing money, and the impending loss of millions of dollars in LDS membership dues and chartering fees probably really was one of the last straws. 

Whether it’s Donald Trump or the BSA, bankruptcy under any chapter rarely signifies prudence or financial acumen; and any “shrewdness” it may entail often comes at the expense of virtue.  I get that it’s necessary in some cases, but painting this as a “good” thing reminds me of two old bankruptcy clients—a married courple—who got their discharge and then called Dave Ramsay to do their “we’re debt free!” celebration:  they totally missed the point, failed to pay the price, crowed about their incompetence as though it were some sort of virtue, and only set themselves up for future disappointment. 

Edited December 19, 2018 by Just_A_Guy