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Statistics
Statistics
Federal vs. state bankruptcies
Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases dropped by 60% from 1991 to 2003. One 2007 study
found this was because businesses were turning to proceedings under state law,
rather than the federal bankruptcy proceedings which include Chapter 11 filings.
Insolvency proceedings under state law, the study stated, are currently faster,
less expensive, and more private, with some states not even requiring court
filings. However, a 2005 study[4] claimed the drop may have been due to an
increase in the incorrect classification of many bankruptcies as "consumer
cases" rather than "business cases".
Cases involving more than US$50 million in assets are almost always handled in
federal bankruptcy court, and not in a state proceeding.
Largest bankruptcy
The largest bankruptcy in history was of the US telecommunications corporation
Worldcom, Inc., which listed over 103 billion dollars in assets as of its
Chapter 11 filing in 2002; the bankruptcy was triggered by the discovery that in
the previous several years, the company had fraudulently overreported its assets
by an estimated 12 billion dollars.
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