BankingRSS

  • March 14, 2008

    Citigroup Asks Court To Stay Enron MegaClaims Trial

    Investment bank Citigroup Corp. has continued its fight against the Enron MegaClaims litigation, asking a bankruptcy court to push back the trial until a New York district court considers its merits.

  • March 17, 2008

    Trust Can Bring Claims Against Banks: Third Circuit

    A federal appeals court has determined that a bankruptcy trust for a software company is not preempted by federal securities law from bringing state and foreign claims against two Swiss banks.

  • March 14, 2008

    Municipal Bond Antitrust Probe Spurs Civil Suits

    Several states, counties, cities and school districts have joined together to bring two nationwide proposed class actions alleging that 37 banks, insurance companies and brokers engaged in widespread price-fixing and bid-rigging in the municipal derivatives industry.

  • March 14, 2008

    SEC Freezes Trading Of 26 Microcap Securities

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suspended trading Thursday in shares of 26 companies that the agency said appear to have stolen the identities of defunct or inactive corporations, a practice known as “corporate hijacking.”

  • March 14, 2008

    Countrywide Cries Foul On U.S. Trustee Investigation

    Countrywide Financial Corp. has lashed out against a government official, making a bid to stop the U.S. Trustee for the Western District of Pennsylvania from investigating the lender's role in the bankruptcies of some of its customers.

  • March 17, 2008

    CFTC Subpoenas Traders In Jet Fuel Price Probe

    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has reportedly targeted several oil traders and brokers with subpoenas as part of its investigation into the possible manipulation of jet fuel prices.

  • March 14, 2008

    Scruggs Enters Surprise Plea In Bribery Case

    Just weeks before his trial was to start, famed tort lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs pled guilty Friday to a charge of conspiracy to bribe a state circuit court judge.

  • March 13, 2008

    Stock-Loan Fee Case Nets Two More Guilty Pleas

    A former Morgan Stanley stock-loan trader and his brother-in-law filed guilty pleas Thursday related to their alleged participation in a kickback and fraud scheme in the stock-loan business.

  • March 13, 2008

    Mortgage Lenders' Plan Leaves Some Out In The Cold

    Mortgage Lenders Network USA Inc. has unveiled a Chapter 11 liquidation plan that would provide $600 million to pay anywhere from 1% to 15% of unsecured claim amounts but would leave holders of subordinated claims and equity interests without reimbursement.

  • March 13, 2008

    EU Fines Italian Banks €123M Over Illegal Aid

    The European Commission took aim Wednesday at Italy for giving unlawful fiscal aid to privatized banks, hitting nine Italian banks with a total of €123 million ($191.5 million) in fines and referring the country to the European Court of Justice for failing to recover illegal state aid in another instance.

  • March 13, 2008

    ISE Vice Chairman Charged With Insider Trading

    Three men, including Vice Chairman of International Securities Exchange LLC John Marshall, have been charged with securities fraud relating to insider trading of ISE stock prior to its merger with Eurex Frankfurt AG last year.

  • March 13, 2008

    Paulson Unveils Plan To Curb Market Excesses

    Citing "market excesses" as one reason for the U.S. economy's current turmoil, the nation's top economic policy makers on Thursday made recommendations for reform, calling for better credit rating practices while downplaying the instability of hedge funds.

  • March 13, 2008

    Calif. Plaintiffs Claim Title Insurers Fixed Rates

    The title insurance industry took another hit on Tuesday, when a group of California plaintiffs filed a lawsuit alleging the companies conspired to set rates at supra-competitive prices and offered illegal kickbacks to middlemen.

  • March 13, 2008

    JP Morgan Engineers Seek Back Wages Under FLSA

    Two JP Morgan Chase & Co. employees, one current and one former, have filed a proposed collective action against the company alleging that it failed to pay them back wages for overtime when it reclassified their jobs as protected under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

  • March 18, 2008

    Feds' Crisis-Prevention Plan Puts Weight On Investors

    Aiming to avoid a repeat of the current credit crisis, a plan crafted by the nation's top economic policymakers not only tasks state and federal regulators with the job of providing more oversight, but also requires large investors to demand answers.

  • March 13, 2008

    $64M Award Upheld Against Ex-Jenkens Clients

    A federal judge has affirmed a jury's $64.5 million damages award to two companies that sued former clients of the defunct law firm Jenkens & Gilchrist Parker Chapin LLP for backing out of a securities trade after receiving confidential information.

  • March 14, 2008

    Securities Class Action Settlements Crest In 2007

    The number of securities class action settlements reached its highest peak ever, with Milberg Weiss LLP, Grant & Eisenhofer PA and Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler LLP topping an annual list of plaintiffs firms garnering the largest total settlements in 2007.

  • March 12, 2008

    Appeals Court Gives Grasso Judge Thumbs Up

    A New York appeals court said Tuesday that the justice presiding in the trial over erstwhile New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso's $187.5 million exit package was acting within his discretion when he declined to recuse himself from the case.

  • March 12, 2008

    National Century Execs' Fraud Case In Jury's Hands

    The corporate fraud trial involving former executives of bankrupt National Century Financial Enterprises Inc. wrapped up with a bang on Tuesday, with both sides trading blows over where the blame should be laid for the collapse of the health care finance company that cost investors $1.9 billion.

  • March 12, 2008

    SEC, CFTC Sign Cooperation Agreement

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Future Trading Commission have formalized their working relationship by signing a mutual cooperation agreement that will create a permanent liaison between the regulators.