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Tag Archive for ‘Bank of America’
Why a Federal Judge Trashed the SEC’s Settlement With Citigroup
A federal judge in Manhattan rejected a proposed settlement between Citigroup and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over a failed security that the bank sold to investors. “If the allegations of the Complaint are true, this is a very good deal for Citigroup,” said U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff as he refused to sign off on the $285 million proposed settlement agreement.
What’s Happened to the Big Players in the Financial Crisis?
Widespread demonstrations in support of Occupy Wall Street have put the financial crisis back into the national spotlight lately. So here’s a quick refresher on what’s happened to some of the main players, whose behavior, whether merely reckless or downright deliberate, helped cause or worsen the meltdown.
Banks Funding Destructive Mountaintop Removal Mining
Many major banks invest in companies that engage in the environmentally destructive practice of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining, whereby the tops of mountains are removed by explosives to expose thin seams of recoverable coal. Despite some banks’ stated intent to limit such financing, a Sierra Club/Rainforest Action Network “report card” indicates that few are yet walking the talk.
Panera Cares: An Experiment in Corporate Responsibility
Columnist Gael O’Brien discusses an innovative corporate responsibility initiative launched by Panera Bread, the national cafe-bakery company. “Panera Cares” has opened community cafes in three cities – Clayton, Missouri; Dearborn, Michigan and Portland, Oregon – based on a pay-what-you-can model where those who can pay more do in order to cover the cost of others.
For One Whistle-Blower, No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Whistle-blowers, truth-tellers and fraud-spotters pay a miserable price on Wall Street. They are vilified. They are fired. Sometimes they are even sued. Instead of being sought after, they become persona non grata. Pulitzer Prize winner Jesse Eisinger reports on the case of David Maris, a one-time star analyst for Bank of America.
A Test Where the Banks Had the Questions and Answers
Later this month, the U.S. Federal Reserve is going to let banks know how they did on its most recent round of “stress tests,” a follow-up to the tests the Fed conducted in the wake of the financial crisis. But reporter Jesse Eisinger says something seems different this time around. It’s almost as if the banks knew their results, even before the testing was complete.
In Postcrisis Report, a Weak Light on Complex Transactions
Reporter Jesse Eisinger credits the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission’s just released report for being full of fascinating information and detail. Its biggest failing, he suggests, “is its timidity in engaging the most important question looming over the crash: What did Wall Street know and when did it know it?”
Countrywide: How Artificial Reality Trumped Leadership
In a post-mortem on mortgage lender Countrywide Financial and its former CEO, Angelo Mozilo, columnist Gael O’Brien explains how personal baggage and ego unchecked can drive unintended outcomes – sometimes persuading a leader to turn a deaf ear to criticism and information that’s needed to get back on course.
Banks’ Self-Dealing Super-Charged Financial Crisis
Over the last two years of the housing bubble, Wall Street bankers perpetrated one of the greatest episodes of self-dealing in financial history. Faced with increasing difficulty in selling the mortgage-backed securities that had been among their most lucrative products, the banks hit on a solution that preserved their quarterly earnings and huge bonuses: They created fake demand.
Courts Fault Feds, SEC for Going Easy on Banks
When big banks have announced settlements with the Securities and Exchange Commission, ProPublica put those agreed-upon fines into perspective, and often found that even millions of dollars in fines aren’t too hard for these big financial firms to shell out. Judges, increasingly, seem to agree.
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