Creditors Of Bankrupt First Brands Say Billions "Simply Vanished" Amid Debt Rehypothecation Nightmare

Hot on the heels of the spectacular implosion of subprime auto lender Tricolor (whose name is a not too subtle reference to the Mexican flag, and appropriately so as the company was almost exclusively targeting illegal aliens as its core customers, so probably not a shock that it had a very unhappy ending), last month's mega bankruptcy was that of First Brands, an auto parts supplier with $5.8 billion in outstanding leveraged loan debt, yet it increasingly appears the company had far more liabilities than previously known as a result of what now learn learn, was extensive rehypothecation of said debt, a practice traditionally associated with such unregulated banana republics as China (who can possibly forget the country's copper rehypothecation scandal a decade ago). Adding to the complexity of this blistering meltdown, which has seen the company's debt trade from par to the teens in hours...