Conrad Black and David Radler have resigned as officers and directors of Ravelston, which is Conrad's private holding company.

An excerpt from the globeandmail.com story:

Lord Black and his business partner David Radler quit as officers and directors of the company, a lawyer for Ravelston told Ontario Superior Court Wednesday as the company sought bankruptcy-court protection from creditors.

An affidavit filed in court Tuesday by Lord Black's long-time deputy Peter White said Ravelston and a subsidiary, Ravelston Management Inc., are seeking protection under the Company Creditors Arrangement Act because they are “insolvent” and faced with “an immediate financial crisis.”

Ravelston is facing a cash crunch after disputes with its subsidiaries Hollinger Inc. and Hollinger International Inc. resulted in them stopping multimillion-dollar management fee payments to Ravelston.

Most of the payments ended in 2003 after a special committee of Hollinger International directors alleged that Lord Black and a team of executives had improperly received more than $30-million in payments. These management fees were Ravelston's main source of income.