Invest money

CIT Group Inc., a 101-year-old commercial lender, filed for bankruptcy to cut $10 billion in debt after the credit crunch dried up its funding and a U.S. bailout and debt exchange offer failed.

CIT listed $71 billion in assets and $64.9 billion in debt in a Chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. The U.S. Treasury Department said the government probably won’t recover much, if any, of the $2.3 billion in taxpayer money that went to CIT.

The bankruptcy “will allow CIT to continue to provide funding to our small business and middle-market customers,” said Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Peek in a statement.

CIT, which filed the fifth-largest bankruptcy by assets, said it plans to exit quickly due to support from bondholders, who voted in favor of a so-called prepackaged plan. None of CIT’s operating subsidiaries, including Utah-based CIT Bank, were included in the filing, and operations will proceed as normal, CIT said in a statement.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3.t_GrxbL2U

• General Growth Properties Inc., the second-biggest shopping mall owner, filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors.
• JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by market value, posting a record of fixed-income trading revenue and saying it can repay U.S. rescue funds. JPMorgan climbed 2.3 percent.
• Americans filed claims for jobless benefits last week even as insured unemployment rose to the highest level in 26 years. Initial claims decreased by 53,000 to 610,000 in the week ended April 11.