# In a co-authored op-ed, Professor Marti Subrahmanyam explores the effects of a financial market phenomenon known as the empty creditor problem

1 Faculty News October 16, 2019 ![The Conversation logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/theconversation.jpg?itok=atgNGQAR)>

Excerpt from [The Conversation](http://theconversation.com/how-hedge-funds-profit-when-big-companies-like-thomas-cook-fail-124872) -- "In September 2019, the 178-year-old global tour operator Thomas Cook “ceased trading with immediate effect.” The collateral damage associated with the liquidation was considerable: more than 20,000 employees without work, an estimated 600,000 travellers stranded around the world and repatriation and customer compensation costs north of 600 million British pounds, or almost $1 billion."

[Read More](http://theconversation.com/how-hedge-funds-profit-when-big-companies-like-thomas-cook-fail-124872)