The U.S. Internal Revenue Service objected to People’s Choice Home Loan Inc.’s chapter 11 liquidation plan on Friday, saying the bankrupt mortgage lender needed to be clearer about when the plan would become effective and when it would pay its taxes, Bankruptcy Law360 reported on Friday. In its disclosure statement, the company said that “at the option of the debtors, a confirmation order that is subject to a pending appeal or certiorari proceeding may be considered a final order provided no court of competent jurisdiction has entered an order staying the effect of the confirmation order.” This language, the IRS said, “is too vague to permit any interested party to determine when, if ever, the plan will become effective.” The agency said that instead, People’s Choice should set a hard deadline if the court confirms its plan.

Visa Inc., set a record for U.S. IPOs by selling 406 million shares at $44 each late Tuesday and raising $17.9 billion, The Deal reported yesterday. The IPO eclipses AT&T Wireless Group’s $10.6 billion stock offering in 2000 and comes in second in the world only to the $22 billion debut of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. in 2006.  J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., Banc of America Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. are leading the 15-bank underwriting team. Visa’s member banks are also expected to benefit nicely from the offering. According to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the largest selling shareholder is JPMorgan, which will see its fortunes rise by about $1.25 billion by offering nearly 29 million shares of Visa - times more than the New York-based bank has agreed to pay in the proposed takeover of Bear Stearns Cos.

Delta Air Lines, faced with a weak economy, dimmer hopes of a combination with Northwest Airlines and record fuel prices, said yesterday that it will offer voluntary severance payouts to roughly 30,000 employees — more than half its work force — and cut U.S. capacity by an extra 5 percent, the Associated Press reported. Executives at Atlanta-based Delta said that the airline’s goal is to cut 2,000 frontline, administrative and management jobs through the severance program, attrition and other initiatives. One part of the program is for employees who are already eligible for retirement or for those whose age and years of service add up to at least 60, with 10 or more years of service. The other part of the program is an “early-out” offer for frontline employees — such as flight attendants and gate and ticket agents — with 10 or more years of service and for administrative and management employees with one or more years of service. Besides severance payments, employees who take the offers also will be entitled to travel privileges and additional benefits to manage career transitions.

American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. secured lenders have reached a deal with unsecured creditors over how to divide up cash raised in the failed company’s bankruptcy liquidation, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Banks led by Bank of America Corp. have agreed to take the first $1.02 billion raised in American Home’s chapter 11 case, and split anything above that with creditors. The settlement, which must be approved by the bankruptcy court, heads off the threat of protracted litigation between American Home’s banks and the committee that represents unsecured creditors, a group that also includes leading Wall Street banks. The pact also aligns unsecured creditors with Bank of America in calling for the fast sale of a portfolio of 3,400 mortgages that represent the last major piece of collateral on about $1.08 billion worth of bank loans.

Peoples Choice Financial filed a reorganization plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court along with a related chapter 11 disclosure statement, BankruptcyData.com reported today. The plan provides, among other things, that the company transfer all of its assets to one of three liquidating trusts on the effective date of the plan. Prior to the plan’s effectiveness, the company will sell substantially all of its assets. The privately-held mortgage banker filed for chapter 11 protection on March 20, 2007, listing total pre-petition assets of $4.7 billion.