A $20 million piece of Enron bank debt was believed to have been auctioned by Société Générale at the 13 1/2 level last week, although the catalyst for the latest activity was unclear. Recent reports indicated that the company's former cfo, Andrew Fastow, would be indicted as early as this week. In addition, the bankruptcy court's examiner recently filed a preliminary report that begins to unveil the complicated partnerships that allowed Enron to disguise debt and pump up its financial results. Calls to Société Générale were not returned by press time.
Over the past three weeks, more than $50 million of Enron's bank debt has traded hands, with the paper up a point or two from the depressed levels it had languished at for months (LMW, 9/23). Market players are closely following whether or not the creditors committee will be able to convince the bankruptcy courts that Enron and Enron North America should be consolidated. Enron North America is said to hold most of the company's value, but the bank debt is held at the corporate level. A company spokesman declined to comment.