Final answer:
In bankruptcy, Secured Debt holders are most senior in the pecking order, followed by Unsecured Debt holders, Preferred Equity holders, and lastly, Common Equity holders(option a).
Step-by-step explanation:
In bankruptcy proceedings, the "pecking order" refers to the legal hierarchy established to determine the order in which creditors and shareholders are paid from the assets of the bankrupt entity. The most senior in the pecking order is a. Secured Debt.
Secured creditors have collateral backing their claims, such as a mortgage or lien on specific assets, which gives them a priority claim over those assets in the event of a bankruptcy.
Following secured debt, the order typically is: b. Unsecured Debt, which includes bondholders and suppliers without collateral backing their claims; c. Preferred Equity, which refers to shareholders who own preferred shares and have a higher claim on assets and earnings than common shareholders; and finally, d. Common Equity, which represents common shareholders who possess the most subordinate claims on assets and earnings.