First Brands Owner Wants Examiner to Expand Probe to Funders

Patrick James, the owner of bankrupt auto-parts supplier First Brands Group, is supporting the appointment of an independent examiner to look into the company’s collapse and its use of trade financing, but it asking for the scope to include claims against the third parties that provided off-balance sheet financing and factoring.

Raistone — a provider of short-term financing that worked on deals for First Brands — requested the appointment of an examiner last month to look into $2.3 billion that had “simply vanished” from the company.

The request was joined later by the US Trustee — the ...