Sep. 3--RENO -- Station Casinos had a pretty good day in Reno on Wednesday, considering it was in bankruptcy court. During a full day of hearings in what is expected to be a months-long bankruptcy case, attorneys for a committee of unsecured creditors reiterated their concerns that a swap agreement and other parts of the company's proposals to provide financing to continue operations while in bankruptcy unnecessarily takes value away from part of company, unfairly benefits Deutsche Bank and hurts creditors, but to no avail.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Gregg Zive allowed a spending plan that was approved in August to remain in place until the next hearing on the issue, called cash collateral, on Sept. 30.

The committee, which has filed two objections to the plan already, has until Sept. 18 to file further objections.

Zive on Wednesday rejected the committee's argument that the swap agreement should be terminated because the fixed interest rates on the agreement are higher than current market rates.

The swap agreement, which includes $15 million in fees for a 13-week period, should be terminated with the funds remaining in the company, committee attorney Bonnie Steingart argued. The lender on the agreement would then be an unsecured creditor.

The swap agreement loan is leveraged against four properties held outside the company: Red Rock Resort, Palace Station, Boulder Station and Sunset Station

Station Casinos attorney Thomas Kreller explained the gaming company decided to keep to the terms of the $1.36 billion swap, even though the rates were higher, to prevent further defaults that would force another $140 million in unsecured creditors into the bankruptcy.

The swap, which set a fixed rate of 5.729 percent, would get a fixed rate of closer to 13 percent in the current lending environment, Shalom Kohn, attorney for lender Deutsche Bank, said.

The day before Wednesday's hearing, which primarily dealt with issues involving financing the company's bankruptcy and continuing operations, a group of independent lenders filed a motion asking the court to hire an examiner to look at several issues in the case.

The lenders want an examiner to look into possible conflicts of interest by Station Casinos board members who rejected Boyd Gaming Corp.'s non-binding offer of $950 million for most of the gaming company's operating assets.

The independent lenders said Station Casinos initially rejected the offer by saying it was working with creditors on a prepackaged bankruptcy plan, an argument that is no longer valid now that it has filed for bankruptcy.