The slowdown in big corporate failures in 2010 had bankruptcy professionals casting misty eyes back to 2009, when such behemoths as General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC tottered at the edge of the corporate scrap yard.
But in at least one way, 2010 was a much bigger year in bankruptcy than 2009: SecondMarket reports that $40 billion bankruptcy claims traded during the year, a 400% increase over 2009. There were also far more claims traded – 11,303 in 2010, compared with 6,612 in 2009.