bankruptcy filing trends

The number of publicly traded companies that filed for bankruptcy protection under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 declined in 2011, compared to the year prior, although the 2011 bankrupt companies collectively  listed greater amounts of pre-petition assets than 2010 bankrupt public companies did, according to data recently released by BankruptcyData.com (here).

According to data from the American Bankruptcy Institute, the high water market for business bankruptcies during the financial crisis occurred during the second quarter of 2009, when there were 16,014 business bankruptcies. The number of business bankruptcies has declined each quarter since then.  During the second quarter of 2011, there were 12,304 business bankruptcies