Very normal scenes at a very normal session of the very normal United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas More First Brands drama here from the incomparable @pollard.bsky.social and @sindap.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/7f58...

Learn to cook, fuckwit

If you financed thousands of windscreen wipers in Mexico, but that collateral was then “commingled”, who owns the windscreen wipers? Where exactly are the windscreen wipers? Why did anyone think that buying windscreen-wiper-backed bonds was a good idea in the first place? www.ft.com/content/b492...

💸🙏🏻 IN LEX WE TRUST 🙏🏻💸 A year before Greensill Capital’s collapse plunged Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance into crisis, the British steel tycoon described Australian financier Lex Greensill as “our perpetual god” who had “poured insane amounts of money” into his companies. on.ft.com/47Etco8

turns out that when you owe the bank $2b, that can indeed be the bank's problem

In the last few days, the First Brands situation has escalated from “suspected” to “alleged” fraud. Our crack bankruptcy reporters @sindap.bsky.social and @pollard.bsky.social have had you covered.

Nigel Farage, who has so far registered a total of £280,500 for four hours a month as a "brand ambassador" for a company selling gold bars, thinks a £10 an hour minimum wage for young people is too high bylinetimes.com/2025/11/03/n...

This is phenomenal reporting from @radleybalko.bsky.social, although be warned, the term "gut punch" doesn't even cover it radleybalko.substack.com/p/accusing-j...

I don't usually criticise my colleagues in public, but I'm dismayed that this FT article has overlooked the capital's true proprietary trading whale. I am of course taking about East London's GSR (Gary Stevenson Research). www.ft.com/content/8a65...

The FT does some of the best and most engaging financial reporting in the world. They have made the story of a dodgy car parts company that borrowed billions fascinating.

So many great details in this compelling @annanicolaou.bsky.social profile of the guardian of Michael Jackson's estate, but from a financial perspective I particularly enjoyed his unique approach to taking on distressed debt mavens Fortress www.ft.com/content/f425...

If you're after a wild weekend read, check out our deep dive into the flashy Utah leasing firm that somehow racked up $2bn of exposure to the First Brands debt debacle Featuring prominent Mormon sports stars, a private jet, cheerleaders and an epic corporate rap video www.ft.com/content/f0ae...

This week on Behind the Money, we're taking you inside the collapse of car parts supplier First Brands Group and the ripple effects out into Wall Street (thanks to the @financialtimes.com's Ortenca Aliaj and @bondhack.ft.com) Listen 🎧: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...

Good to see @dailymail.co.uk @thetimes.com and @telegraphnews.bsky.social all delete their articles - sad the lies went up in the first place

Finally got round to reading Jim's opus on the Camorra-adjacent snail farmer and it's even better than I hoped

This may be one of the most brutal book reviews I’ve ever read and deservedly so www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/1...

Increasingly clear why Jeff Bezos described AI as the “good” kind of bubble!

This story from @bondhack.ft.com and the FT is amazing, one of the best pieces of financial journalism I’ve ever read www.ft.com/content/8373...

Jefferies chief executive Rich Handler just used the f-word on First Brands, telling investors that the bank believes it was “defrauded” after being grilled over its exposure to the bankrupt automotive parts supplier. latest on the First Brands debacle here: www.ft.com/content/5cc3...

Guys, don’t worry, it’s a one-off, credit markets are fine. Well there was First Brands as well I guess. And Tricolor. But as Junior Soprano said, these things come in threes, so I’m sure it’s done with now.

A few short weeks ago, Patrick James was scarcely known outside the murkier corners of credit markets. Now, with billions of dollars apparently missing, he is at the centre of a $12bn nightmare on Wall Street. Full story w/ @ortenca.bsky.social and @ericgplatt.ft.com 👇 www.ft.com/content/8373...

I very much enjoyed this sweepy take on First Brands Group’s implosion from Rob Copeland at the New York Times. It was also good of him to the credit the FT for its early reporting on the debacle. A hat tip costs nothing! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/b...

Timestamp.

Credit insurance is back in the spotlight – my personal fomo. scoop from @leeharris.ft.com @bondhack.ft.com www.ft.com/content/de37...

Insurers are preparing for a wave of potential claims relating to First Brands’ bankruptcy, as one of Wall Street's biggest debacles in years ripples through the financial system Latest on the contagion from the auto parts firm’s collapse, with the great @leeharris.ft.com here 👇🏻 on.ft.com/48iuBCO

🚨 JEFFERIES REVEALS $715MN FUND EXPOSURE TO FIRST BRANDS INVOICES 🚨 Jefferies has said that one of its credit funds has ~$715mn of exposure linked to First Brands Group, making the US investment bank one of the largest-known creditors to the bankrupt auto parts firm. www.ft.com/content/8d47...

chat is my fund diversified?

The game of "Where's Waldo?" begins...

🔥FIRST BRANDS NIGHTMARE ON WALL STREET SPREADS TO PARADEPLATZ 🔥 A UBS fund has 30 per cent of its portfolio tied to the failed First Brands Group, leaving Switzerland’s largest bank grappling with a bankruptcy that has convulsed global finance. Lots more scoopy detail here: on.ft.com/46VXxhD

BREAKING: Jefferies earned undisclosed fees on financing it provided to First Brands Group, in an arrangement other lenders say may have violated terms of their own credit agreement with the bankrupt car parts company. Full story w/ @ericgplatt.ft.com & @ortenca.bsky.social here: on.ft.com/430jWZT

Cracking, nuanced profile of AI sceptic-in-chief @edzitron.com from @tabbykinder.bsky.social on.ft.com/3WlODVF

"With the advent of private credit, institutions are putting money into this magical machine that gives you equity rates of return for senior debt exposure, which again should be the first red flag. We rarely get to see how the sausage is made." on.ft.com/4gSm1gd

Even US bankruptcy courts, the vengeful Old Testament God of American capitalism, take a rest on a Sunday

The musics still playing, even though some of the performers are being carried out in body bags

‘In a 2020 Lunch with the FT interview, Chanos said financial markets were in "the golden age of fraud". On Thursday he said this phenomenon had "done nothing but gallop even higher" since he made the remark.’

Is the collapse of First Brands Group an “Enron moment” for the private credit market? I thought it was worth speaking to an expert to get an answer. So I rang Jim Chanos. The legendary short seller had some sharp words about the “magical machine” fuelling Wall Street’s debt boom on.ft.com/4nvwlx3

💥BREAKING NEWS ON FIRST BRANDS FIASCO 💥 First Brands Group’s $1.1bn rescue loan faces a legal challenge from a Utah-based asset-backed finance specialist, which has emerged as the largest known creditor to the bankrupt US auto parts company. Full details only on the FT, here on.ft.com/3KnnBe2

We made this video just prior to First Brands Group's bankruptcy, but a lot of the main beats are there: hidden liabilities; supply-chain finance shenanigans; prior accusations of fraud against the founder; @ortenca.bsky.social and I gazing wistfully at our computers. www.ft.com/video/8f96ed...

BREAKING: An investigation into First Brands' financing is examining whether the company pledged the same invoices multiple times, in a review of its books and records that has already uncovered that debt collateral may have been “commingled”. Full details only at the FT, here: on.ft.com/4nWhHPo

For those with a deviant desire for the gnarliest org-chart porn imaginable, here's some fresh material:

First Brands Group has filed for bankruptcy protection while disclosing more than $10bn in total liabilities, marking one of the most spectacular collapses in private debt markets in recent years. on.ft.com/46JCizC

Also this

Another great investigation by bond honcho @bondhack.ft.com on the most mysterious corners of off-balance sheet financing

RIP to one of the all-time greats. www.ft.com/content/46d5...

First Brands Group’s cash crunch was exacerbated when some of its funds were recently seized during a transfer between banks, pushing the embattled US auto parts supplier closer to the verge of a chaotic bankruptcy Latest on the multibillion dollar fiasco rattling Wall Street 👇🏻 on.ft.com/3Iw1Doy

First Brands Group is the latest credit market car crash. If you want to get under the hood of how its off-balance sheet, Special Purpose Entity inventory debt worked — and how some funds have seemingly booked 50%+ returns buying short-dated paper — FT Alphaville has you covered on.ft.com/4ntq0T8

🚨 EXPLOSIVE NEW report based on the 18K emails @business obtained from Jeffrey Epstein's personal Yahoo account: new details about the academics, attorneys and media specialists who helped him—in different ways and to varying degrees 🧵 www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

🚨BREAKING NEWS ON FIRST BRANDS GROUP'S OFF BALANCE SHEET DEBT🚨 Entities tied to First Brands and its founder Patrick James have filed for bankruptcy protection, compounding issues at the car parts supplier whose troubles have roiled credit markets. Story w/ @ortenca.bsky.social on.ft.com/4nfPEul

Interesting: Gupta frees up some cash Story via Julie Steinberg, @bondhack.ft.com, Chloe Cornish www.ft.com/content/4ffa...