Commercial Paper Problem Attias

[Puerto Plata Bum]

I will make this short. For years, I have bought commercial papers from my broker. One company Attias Ingenieros y Arquitectos says that they were not paid for a construction project and are unable to pay the interest payments on their papers. I have not received any interest payments since November.

I talked to the broker and she said that there was a meeting with management officials from the company with several commercial paper investors. The company offered to pay 50% of the face value of the commercial papers 2 years from now. The commercial paper holders rejected this offer.

There is supposed to be one final meeting March 11th. According to my broker, she said this would be the final meeting and if there is no agreement, then it would be up to each commercial paper holder to hire a lawyer and try to get back their money.

I find it very difficult to believe that a construction company is unable to collect payment for their last project and this put them under financially. I think interest rates went down and this company doesn't want to pay the higher rates on its existing commercial papers.

What do you think the outcome of this meeting would likely be? What should I do to try to recover some of my invested money?

[OscarDeLaRenta]

Commercial paper is often unsecured, meaning the basic motivation to repay on the part of the borrower is the company's reputation (and related features, such as an interest in borrowing in the future). This is how commercial paper started, but there are variants today, such as secured commercial paper, where the original motivations to repay still manifest, however there is an additional motivation in that the security pledged (equipment, vehicles, receivables, etc.) are given to the creditor, by court order if necessary, in the event of default. Is yours an unsecured note?

[Joey Smith]

Would someone comment on commercial papers through banks ????

[OscarDeLaRenta]

Originally Posted by Joey Smith

Would someone comment on commercial papers through banks ????

Can you be more specific on that of which you would like a comment? Commercial paper is a borrowing/investment instrument, and, yes, some banks broker them. But what exactly are you asking, or what do you want to know about them... It's too broad what you wrote; it's like saying, "Can someone please comment on derivatives???"

[Puerto Plata Bum]

This was my original posting from the business section:

I will make this short. For years, I have bought commercial papers from my broker. One company Attias Ingenieros y Arquitectos says that they were not paid for a construction project and are unable to pay the interest payments on their papers. I have not received any interest payments since November.

I talked to the broker and she said that there was a meeting with management officials from the company with several commercial paper investors. The company offered to pay 50% of the face value of the commercial papers 2 years from now. The commercial paper holders rejected this offer.

There is supposed to be one final meeting March 11th. According to my broker, she said this would be the final meeting and if there is no agreement, then it would be up to each commercial paper holder to hire a lawyer and try to get back their money.

I find it very difficult to believe that a construction company is unable to collect payment for their last project and this put them under financially. I think interest rates went down and this company doesn't want to pay the higher rates on its existing commercial papers.

What do you think the outcome of this meeting would likely be? What should I do to try to recover some of my invested money?

[Puerto Plata Bum]

This is my attempt at translating. The original Spanish version is pasted below that:

The proposal that has been agreed is to pay 100% of the investment that you had with Attias within a year and a half.

They will pay the pending interest from the months of October, November, and December I still don’t know when. Later they will pay the principle in a manner of percentages after the company is producing and receiving money. This I would like to say that for the moment you will not receive your money. The business will sign an agreement with the committee and the clients to watch that all of this is done responsibly and that each client receives all of their investment.

Here is the original e mail in Spanish.

La propuesta que se realizo consiste en pagar el 100% de la inversion que usted realizo en attias dentro de 1 año y medio.
Seran pagados los intereses pendientes de los meses de oct. nov. y diciembre todavia no se en que fecha, y luego seran pagados los capitales de manera porcentual segun la empresa vaya produciendo y recibiendo dinero, esto quiere decir que no se perdera su dinero pero tambien quiere decir que por el momento usted no recibira su dinero, la empresa suscribira un acuerdo con el comite y los clientes para vigilar que todo esto se culpla y que cada cliente reciba el total de su inversion.


To be honest, I do not expect to see any of this money ever paid. I think it is time to see a lawyer on this one.

Ideas? Suggestions?

[Fabio J. Guzman]

The meeting you are talking about may be a "tentativa de conciliación" which is the first step in bankruptcy proceedings.

[Jahmelle]

I am interested in purchasing some commercial paper, and I need some information on where I can buy it and how much I need to get started