While not tied to the moves directly by the company, officialssaid in the statement that an "affiliate of a Bucksbaum familytrust" advanced unsecured loans to Michaels and former director andCFO Bernard Freibaum, who was let go by the company earlier thismonth. The loans were for the purpose of repaying personal margindebt relating to company stock. "The loan to Michaels, whichtotaled $10 million, has been repaid in full," according to acompany spokesman. "The loan to Freibaum, whose employment wasterminated prior to the Board's knowledge of these loans, totaled$90 million, and has $80 million presently outstanding." Thespokesman refused further comment.

Company officials said in the statement that no laws or SECrules were broken by the loans and no company assets or resourceswere involved. The loans did violate company policy, the officialssaid.

Metz, 47, is a founding partner of Polaris Capital LLC. Nolanwas a managing director of Trefethen & Co., and has experiencewith troubled debt restructuring as a former employee of AEWCapital Management LP. Analysts have said that the "interim" titlessuggest GGP is still shopping for a buyer of the company, but areskeptical that another company would want to take on so much debt."We continue to believe that the M&A option is an unlikelyrescue for GGP investors, given the potential suitors unlikelywillingness to incur nearly $30 billion of debt, much of whichmatures in the next few years," said Paul Morgan with FBR CapitalMarkets.