Wells Fargo sued JPMorgan in New York federal court on Monday to make it pay up for a soured $481 million commercial real estate loan that it originated and securitized, allegedly based on "dramatically inflated" supporting financial data.
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TOP NEWS

JPMorgan Sued Over $481M CMBS Loan With 'Inflated' Metric

By Jon Hill

Wells Fargo sued JPMorgan in New York federal court on Monday to make it pay up for a soured $481 million commercial real estate loan that it originated and securitized, allegedly based on "dramatically inflated" supporting financial data.

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CFPB Hasn't Justified Pausing Comerica Suit, Judge Rules

By Hailey Konnath

A Texas federal judge on Monday refused to pause the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's case accusing Comerica of mismanaging a government benefit card program, ruling that the CFPB hasn't explained why staying the case "would be in the interest of justice."

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Paul Weiss, Fenwick Build Rocket's $1.75B Redfin Buy

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Detroit-based real estate-focused fintech platform Rocket Cos., advised by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, on Monday announced that it has agreed to buy Fenwick & West LLP-led digital real estate brokerage Redfin in a $1.75 billion all-stock deal.

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Fifth Third Borrowers Win $3.6M Atty Fee Despite Trial Finish

By Sydney Price

An Ohio federal judge awarded $3.6 million in attorney fees and costs to a class of Fifth Third Bank borrowers who convinced the court the bank violated the Truth in Lending Act with its Early Access loan program, but lost other claims at trial two years ago.

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EPA Climate Grantee Sues Citibank, Agency Over Frozen Cash

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

A climate-change-focused nonprofit is accusing Citibank NA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in D.C. federal court of breaching a contract to deliver billions of dollars in grant funding that's been frozen by the Trump administration.

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Feds Sue FDIC For $1.9M For First Republic Tax Bill

By David Hansen

The U.S. government sued the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in D.C. federal court as receiver for the failed First Republic Bank, alleging the bank understated its withholding tax for U.S.-sourced income of foreigners and now owes almost $2 million to the federal government.

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Ex-Credit Suisse Client Pleads Guilty To Hiding $90M

By Carolina Bolado

A Colombian-American businesswoman and former Credit Suisse client pled guilty Monday in Florida federal court to conspiring with family members to hide more than $90 million in assets from the IRS through a series of foreign bank accounts.

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POLICY & REGULATION

OCC Nixes Supervisory Hurdle For Banks' Crypto Biz

By Aislinn Keely

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has told banks that they no longer need to obtain a nonobjection from the regulator to push forward with crypto plans, reaffirming interpretations issued under the first Trump administration and rescinding a Biden-era supervisory requirement for crypto activities.

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All Agencies Trump Ordered To Drop DEI Must Heed Injunction

By Grace Elletson

A preliminary injunction blocking President Donald Trump's executive orders axing diversity, equity and inclusion-related work applies equally to all executive agencies given directives to purge the programming, a Maryland federal judge said Monday.

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Alsup Refuses To Vacate Hearing Into OPM Mass Firings

By Dorothy Atkins

U.S. District Judge William Alsup on Monday denied the Trump administration's request to vacate an upcoming evidentiary hearing into the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's mass firings of probationary federal employees, and required OPM director Charles Ezell to appear in person or else be deposed.

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AFL-CIO, Unions Defend Fight Against DOGE Access

By Beverly Banks

The AFL-CIO and a group of unions sought to keep alive their claims that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency can't legally access data from the U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies, telling a D.C. federal judge they have standing to file their suit.

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Treasury's CTA Halt Doesn't Justify Block, Feds Tell 5th Circ.

By Kevin Pinner

The U.S. Treasury Department halting enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act on domestic entities doesn't add justification to a nationwide block on the law because it's a valid exercise of Congress' powers to regulate commerce, taxes, foreign affairs and national security, the U.S. government told the Fifth Circuit.

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ENFORCEMENT & COMPLIANCE

2nd Circ. Won't Free Ex-JPMorgan Banker From Industry Ban

By Jessica Corso

The Second Circuit on Monday upheld a lifetime investment advising ban against a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Perella Weinberg Partners investment banker convicted of insider trading, saying that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission presented substantial evidence demonstrating that the ban was appropriate.

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Split SEC Pulls Subpoena Authority From Enforcement Head

By Jessica Corso

A divided U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday withdrew a 15-year-old policy that allowed the director of enforcement to greenlight new investigations and approve the issuance of subpoenas, leaving the decision squarely in the hands of the agency's Republican majority.

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Court Affirms FBAR Penalties Against Estate, Not Widow

By David Hansen

The estate of a man who failed to report his Swiss bank accounts is liable for tax penalties of at least $2 million, an Idaho federal court determined, finding the man's widow off the hook.

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LITIGATION

Comerica Sued Over Interest Earned On Gov't Benefits Cards

By Carolyn Muyskens

Comerica Bank was hit with a proposed class action Friday claiming that the bank is not entitled to keep interest it earns on Social Security and other federal benefits Comerica distributes through government benefits cards.

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Money Manager Can't Block Alleged Client Poach, Judge Says

By Brian Steele

Connecticut investment firm TJT Capital Group LLC has not demonstrated that it will suffer irreparable harm without a temporary restraining order that bars a former member from using client information he allegedly misappropriated, a federal judge has ruled in denying the request.

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DEALS

Fintech-Focused SPAC Titan Acquisition Files $240M IPO

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Special purpose acquisition company Titan Acquisition Corp. on Monday detailed plans to raise up to $240 million in its initial public offering, with the goal of merging with a company in the finance and tech-enabled services industries.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

2 Practical Ways For Banks To Battle Elder Financial Abuse

Federal regulators' recent statement raising awareness of elder financial exploitation provides a useful catalog of techniques that banks can employ to fight fraud, particularly encouraging older account holders to establish trusted contacts and sharing timely warnings about the latest scams with customers, say attorneys at Nutter.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

National Lawyers Guild Slams Trump's Perkins Coie Order

By Rachel Riley

The Seattle Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild denounced President Donald Trump's recent executive order revoking Perkins Coie LLP's security clearances, saying on Monday the decision "exemplifies his complete disregard for the rule of law and his contempt for core American democratic values."

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GOP Sens. Escalate Fight With ABA Over 'Leftist' Statements

By Courtney Bublé

A group of Senate Republicans are once again going after the American Bar Association, which they claim has become a "leftist" organization, and announced Monday they will disregard ABA ratings on judicial nominees and encouraged the Trump administration and their colleagues to do the same.

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Paul Hastings Reelects Chair, Managing Partner To 2nd Terms

By Tracey Read

Paul Hastings LLP Chair Frank Lopez and Managing Partner Sherrese Smith have been reelected to their second three-year terms, the firm said Monday.

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Judge Who Shot Wife Gets Mistrial As Jury Hangs On Murder

By Gina Kim

A California judge declared a mistrial Monday in the murder trial of Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, who shot and killed his wife in their Anaheim Hills home in 2023, after jurors said they remained at an impasse over whether he was guilty of second-degree murder.

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Analysis

SEC Leaves Meme Coin Fraud For Other Cops To Chase

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff's decision to say that so-called meme coins are beyond the agency's purview is a welcome change from past practices, experts say, but the devil is in the details when it comes to policing fraud and helping consumers recover when projects go bust.

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Del. Bar Panel OKs Corp. Law Bill To Curb Class Suits, Fees

By Jeff Montgomery

A key panel of the Delaware's State Bar Association overwhelmingly approved on Monday a pending bill to put new constraints on corporate stockholder lawsuits, over objections that the measure will snuff out shareholder protections from conflicted boards and corporation controllers.

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High Court Will Review Colo.'s Conversion Therapy Ban

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it will review a challenge to Colorado's ban on licensed therapists providing conversion therapy to transgender minors, in a case that asks whether the state's law is a permissible regulation of professional conduct or an unconstitutional restriction of speech.

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2 Firms Sued After Cyber Thief Steals $442K From Estate

By Ryan Harroff

Law firms SutterWilliams LLC and Allender & Allender PA were hit with a negligence and malpractice suit after a cybercriminal allegedly used spoofed email accounts to trick an attorney at the latter firm into handing over $442,600 from the sale of a late Pennsylvania sheriff's deputy's house in Florida.

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Paul Hastings Adds Kirkland Atty As Global M&A Co-Chair

By Tracey Read

Paul Hastings LLP has hired a third global co-chair for its mergers and acquisitions practice who was one of the youngest M&A partners in the world to have announced well over $1 trillion in deals, the firm said Monday.

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Hagens Berman Comms With Ghosting Client Kept Privileged

By Ryan Boysen

Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP doesn't have to turn over texts and emails with a client who disappeared from a putative class action against Apple and Amazon, a Washington federal judge has ruled, despite the tech giants' accusations that the firm lied about those communications.

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J. Crew Wins Confirmation Of Ex-GC's Arbitration Loss

By Lauren Berg

A New York federal judge confirmed an arbitrator's ruling Monday that found J. Crew hadn't fired its former legal chief, Maria DiLorenzo, in retaliation for her complaints about colleagues' discriminatory comments about her hearing loss.

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Clerks May Seek Political Jobs On 'Case-By-Case Basis'

By Emily Sawicki

Individual federal judges may determine whether their clerks may seek political posts while employed by the judiciary, the Judicial Conference of the United States' Committee on Codes of Conduct now recommends, months after issuing guidance advising clerks to hold off seeking such roles until their clerkships end.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AARP Inc.

AbbVie Inc.

Alliance Defending Freedom

Amazon.com Inc.

Amcor PLC

American Association of University Professors

American Bar Association

American Federation of Government Employees

American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations

American Federation of State County & Municipal Employees

American Federation of Teachers

Apple Inc.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice

Bank Leumi le-Israel Ltd.

Citigroup Inc.

Coinbase Global Inc.

Comerica Inc.

Communications Workers of America

Constellation Brands Inc.

Credit Suisse Group AG

Democracy Forward Foundation

EFG International Corp.

Economic Policy Institute

Fifth Third Bancorp

First Republic Bank

Genworth Financial Inc.

Human Rights Campaign

J. Crew Group Inc.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Kellanova Co.

Mars Inc.

Michaels Stores Inc.

NASDAQ Inc.

National Federation of Independent Business

Perella Weinberg Partners LP

Rocket Cos.

SVB Financial Group

Service Employees International Union

SitusAMC Holdings Corp.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Tesla Inc.

The Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

Verizon Communications Inc.

Wells Fargo & Co.

Wynn Resorts Ltd.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

A&O Shearman

Allender & Allender

Altshuler Berzon

Arete Law Group

Baker & Hostetler

Barnes & Thornburg

Bernstein Burkley

Bernstein Litowitz

Bruce A. Zimet PA

Caplin & Drysdale

Clifford Chance

Covington & Burling

Cravath Swaine

Davis Wright Tremaine

Ellenoff Grossman

Fenwick & West

Hagens Berman

Hedin LLP

Hunton Andrews

Jenner & Block

K&L Gates

Kirkland & Ellis

Latham & Watkins

Lazare Potter

Lewis Brisbois

Littler Mendelson

Lucas & Varga

Nutter McClennen

Orrick Herrington

Paul Hastings

Paul Weiss

Pearman Law Firm

Perkins Coie

Quinn Emanuel

Redgrave LLP

Sidley Austin

Spangenberg Shibley

The Miller Law Firm PC (Rochester, MI)

Tycko & Zavareei

Wagner McLaughlin

Weil Gotshal

Wigdor LLP

Williams & Connolly

Winston & Strawn

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Central Intelligence Agency

City and County of San Francisco, California

Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Executive Office of the President

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Fish and Wildlife Service

Internal Revenue Service

Judicial Conference of the United States

National Credit Union Administration

National Park Service

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

U.S. Agency for International Development

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. Department of Transportation

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Office of Personnel Management

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio