By the end of 2002, Qwest Communications Inc., a major U.S. communications company, was reaching a precarious level of illiquidity in the face of huge debts. To reduce that debt, Qwest offered its institutional investors a chance to exchange some unsecured bonds for new senior-subordinated secured notes. But bondholders had no reliable data on Qwest’s financials, and there is a two-day deadline for accepting Qwest’s offer. See also the B case (UVA-QA-0648).