I seriously hope, that this is a start of a serious new trend
... a trend in actual accountability ...
Citi Ruling Could Chill SEC, Street Legal Pacts
by Jean Eaglesham and Chad Bray, wsj.com -- Nov 29, 2011
A decades-old blueprint used by many federal agencies to settle charges of wrongdoing with companies and avoid court was challenged by a U.S. judge, in a ruling that legal experts said could have a significant impact on future law-enforcement efforts against Wall Street firms.
In a sharply worded order, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff rejected a $285 million deal by Citigroup Inc. to settle civil fraud charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission as "neither fair, nor reasonable, nor adequate, nor in the public interest."
The deal was agreed to earlier this year, after the SEC accused the New York company of selling investors slices of a $1 billion mortgage-bond deal called Class V Funding III, without disclosing it was betting against $500 million of those assets.
[...]
Here's the 'egghead' version of what it all means ...
N.Y. Judge Rejects SEC's $285M Deal With CitiGroup as 'Unfair, Unreasonable'
PBS News Hour
http://www.youtube.com/...
uploaded by PBSNewsHour on Nov 28, 2011
I seriously hope, that this is a start of a serious new trend
... a trend in standing up for the public, whenever our rights are violated ... by the top 1 percent ...
Judge rejects $285-million settlement between SEC, Citigroup
by Nathaniel Popper, Los Angeles Times -- Nov 29, 2011
[...]
Jed Rakoff, a federal judge in Manhattan, issued a sharply worded order Monday rejecting a proposed $285-million settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Citigroup Inc. that would have allowed the bank to avoid admitting it defrauded investors over toxic mortgage securities. He said that other similar settlements had not stopped banks from breaking the law, and added that the fines are "pocket change to any entity as large as Citigroup."
Rakoff's order echoes public anger that the banks have been let off too easily for their role in causing the financial crisis that peaked in 2008. It also has the potential to affect future fraud cases that the SEC enters into with Wall Street firms that do not want to admit they violated the law -- a key step that helps shelter them from further civil litigation.
"He wants them to dig deeper," Anthony Sabino, a law professor at St. John's University, said of Rakoff. "What he's looking for is for more specific naming of names in order to protect the public from this happening again."
Here's the 'cut to the chase' version of what it all means ...
Matt Taibbi on Judge Rakoff’s decision to reject the SEC’s latest settlement with Citigroup
Keith Olbermann, CurrentTV -- Nov 28, 2011
[Sorry, it doesn't want to embed -- here's the Countdown Link.]
I seriously hope, that this is a start of a serious new trend
... an accountability trend of Bankers finally have to face some real Justice ...
which is warranted by the actual facts of the case -- Not by their lawyers' non-disclosure, billion dollar double speak.
That this will kickoff a serious challenge to the SOP "slap on wrist" parking-ticket fines, that do next to nothing to dissuade Wall Street Bankers,
from continuing to treat their customers as "easy marks" in their latest high-stakes "con-game" ... whatever that con may currently be ...