Transparency? Not with Yair Lapid: This morning (Wednesday), Finance Ministry Director General Yael Andorn convened a press conference to announce the conclusions of the 'Andorn Committee on Debt Arrangements in Israel.' The 'Globes' website broadcast the press conference live, but just minutes after the broadcast began, the Finance Ministry spokeswoman decided to immediately end it.
""If you don't take out your equipment now, I'll throw the cameraman out completely," spokespeople for the Ministry of Finance told the Globes TV producer.
The Andorn Committee was established several months ago, with the aim of formulating an orderly outline for debt arrangements for companies that are defaulting on their debt payments, in light of the haircuts for the largest companies in the economy in recent years.
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
According to Andoren, "When a company does not pay the debt, the management rights will be taken from the controlling shareholder," and therefore the committee is changing the rules for debt arrangements.
The committee determined that a debt settlement will be carried out in 3 stages: The first stage allows for the formulation of an early settlement with the debtors, voluntarily by the company. The company will be appointed a settlement representative, who will work to restore the company, which is not yet in significant difficulties.
The second stage, refers to a company that is in financial difficulties, but still manages to meet payments to its debt holders. At this stage, a special representative will be appointed on behalf of the bondholders, who will sit as an observer on the company's board of directors and committees. The company is required to reduce its expenses, and restrictions apply to the ability to distribute dividends and to carry out material and interested party transactions.
In the third stage - the company fails to pay its public debt holders, and a special administrator is appointed by the official receiver, or alternatively, legal proceedings will be imposed on the company.
In addition to the outline of the stages, the committee formulated recommendations relating to the credit allocation stage, as well as rules for improving the credit management process and reducing the expenses associated with it.
The members of the Andorn Committee were the Director General of the Ministry of Finance and the Chairman of the Committee, Yael Andorn, the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Authority, Prof. Shmuel Hauser, the Chairman of the National Economic Council, Prof. Eugene Kendel, the Supervisor of Banks, Dudu Zaken, the Supervisor of the Capital Market and Insurance, Dorit Salinger, the Head of the Research Division at the Bank of Israel, Prof. Nathan Zussman, the Deputy Attorney General, Avi Licht, the Dean of the School of Business Administration at the Hebrew University, Prof. Yishai Yaffe, and Yoel Neve.
