SEC

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Feds Probe BofA-Merrill Deal

FBI, Justice Department investigate timing of bonus payments: source

(Newser) - Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch is the focus of an ongoing investigation by the FBI and Justice Department, sources tell the Charlotte Observer, the bank's hometown paper. The SEC and the AGs of New York and North Carolina have already launched civil probes of the timing of huge...

SEC Moves to Ban Lightning-Fast Trading

Flash orders let big investors buy and sell in milliseconds, harming slower traders

(Newser) - The SEC is seeking a ban on the financial technique known as flash orders, a controversial method in which powerful computers survey other investors' trades and adjust strategies within milliseconds to turn a profit. SEC head Mary Schapiro said that flash orders "may create a two-tiered market" since only...

Court Overturns Merrill-BofA Settlement With SEC

Bank's $33M fine doesn't do 'justice' to shareholders, public: judge

(Newser) - A federal judge today scrapped the $33 million settlement Bank of America and the SEC agreed on as punishment for the bank's not informing shareholders of bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch executives just before the bank bought Merrill, the New York Times reports. Saying BofA "materially lied, " Jed...

Madoff on Fooling SEC: 'Just Be Casual'

Ponzi schemer taped giving associates tips to dodge regulators

(Newser) - The most important thing to remember if you want to fool the SEC is to act casual, Bernie Madoff told executives at Fairfield Greenwich Group. “You don't want them to think you're concerned about anything,” the Ponzi scheme mastermind said in a phone call taped in 2005, CNN ...

SEC Report: We Never Did 'Competent' Madoff Probe

(Newser) - The SEC's inspector general says the agency had plenty of chances to take down Bernie Madoff and whiffed on every one, Bloomberg reports. In a report released today, H. David Kotz writes that the SEC received "detailed and substantive complaints over the years to warrant a thorough and comprehensive...

Stanford 'Fraud Scheme Sealed With Blood Oath'

Banker accused of giving bribes, Super Bowl tickets to Caribbean regulator

(Newser) - Alleged Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford cut his wrist and made a secret blood pact with the banking regulator of the island of Antigua, where his bank operated, according to court documents. Stanford and the official pressed their bloody wrists together in a "brotherhood ceremony," after which the...

Jilted South Wooing Heisman Voters

(Newser) - At least two Southern universities are spending some cash this year to try to correct a historical football inequity—at least in the eyes of the South, the Wall Street Journal reports. The SEC has won more national titles than any other conference since the Heisman Trophy debuted in 1935,...

SEC Lacks Smarts Needed to Tackle Shadowy Trades

...but doesn't have the technology or know-how, critics say

(Newser) - The Securities and Exchange Commission is stepping up its efforts to shine light on the market’s more shadowy corners, examining flash quotes, high-frequency trades, and so-called “dark pools.” But the agency just doesn’t have the technology or trading know-how to keep up, experts tell the Wall ...

Judge Slams 'Lying' BofA, Merrill Over $3.6B Bonuses

(Newser) - The judge who has refused to sign off on Bank of America's settlement with the SEC over $3.6 billion in bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch delivered a stinging rebuke to both parties in a hearing yesterday, the New York Times reports. The firms "effectively lied to their shareholders"...

What Truce? O'Reilly, Olbermann Back in the Ring

Olbermann calls O'Reilly 'worst'; O'Reilly attacks GE

(Newser) - The feud between Bill O’Reilly and Keith Olbermann continues, despite word of a peace deal: On Monday Olbermann said there was no truce and awarded O’Reilly the silver medal for “World’s Worst Person.” Then he gave the gold to Fox News honcho Rupert Murdoch. O’...

Judge Balks at BofA Bonus Settlement

$33M deal with SEC raises questions of fairness; hearing set

(Newser) - Bank of America won't be able to quietly settle the flap over bonuses for Merrill Lynch execs with a simple $33 million payout to the SEC, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Judge Jed Rakoff refused to sign off on the settlement, saying that doing so would leave the public in...

Geithner Flips Out, Tongue-Lashes Regulators

(Newser) - The heat is apparently getting to Tim Geithner. At a meeting last week with high-level financial regulators, the treasury secretary indulged in a potty-mouthed diatribe about delays in the administration's highly touted plan to overhaul the regulatory system, declaring, "enough is enough," the Wall Street Journal reports....

BofA Settles SEC Suit Over Merrill Bonuses for $33M

Commission says bank misled investors over Merrill payout

(Newser) - Bank of America will pay $33 million to settle a federal lawsuit, filed today, which says the bank misled its investors, Reuters reports. During its takeover of Merrill Lynch, the lawsuit charges, Bank of America told investors Merrill wouldn’t pay bonuses without BoA’s permission before the deal closed....

Banks Won't Honor Calif. IOUs
 Banks Won't Honor Calif. IOUs 
Jul 10, 2009 5:37 AM CDT

Banks Won't Honor Calif. IOUs

(Newser) - Major banks in California, including Bank of America and Wells Fargo, will stop honoring the state's IOUs after today, reports the Los Angeles Times. While some credit unions may cash the promissory notes, taxpayers and vendors who need cash may be tempted to sell them on the cheap to third-party...

SEC Staffer Was Waved Off Madoff Probe

Investigator's questions could have exposed Ponzi scheme in 2004

(Newser) - An SEC investigator whose questions could have exposed Bernard Madoff's fraud in 2004 was shifted to an unrelated case after raising the alarm, the Washington Post reports. One of the supervisors who told the staffer to focus instead on a mutual funds investigation later married Madoff's niece, and the relationship...

Stanford Indicted for $7B Ponzi Scheme

(Newser) - Alleged billionaire fraudster Robert Allen Stanford and six of his associates were indicted today on charges that they ran a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, the AP reports. Stanford turned himself in to authorities yesterday. “A fair jury will find him not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,” Stanford’s...

Obama Proposes More Powerful Fed

(Newser) - President Obama today proposed broad new powers for the Federal Reserve and the creation of new national regulator to ensure against another financial crisis, the Wall Street Journal reports. Under the new plan, the Fed would oversee all components of any banking concern, even its foreign affiliates, and Treasury would...

New SEC Chair Stakes Out Her Territory

Schapiro moving decisively to overhaul troubled agency

(Newser) - As soon as she took over the SEC, Mary Schapiro started making changes. She scrapped rules that had hindered investigators, hired a new enforcement director, and refocused regulators on high-profile financial crisis-related cases. “I wanted to be clear from my first day—not just with words, which are pretty...

Insider Trading Probe Targets 2 SEC Officials

Lawyers at regulator alleged to have traded financial stocks

(Newser) - Two lawyers with the SEC are under federal investigation for alleged insider trading, Reuters reports. The SEC's internal watchdog claims that they traded stock in a large financial services company, despite warnings from other employees that the company was under investigation. One of the two works in the SEC's Office...

US Weighs Shaving Bankers' Pay
US Weighs Shaving Bankers' Pay
May 13, 2009 5:17 AM CDT

US Weighs Shaving Bankers' Pay

Planned rules may apply to banks that weren't bailed out

(Newser) - The Obama administration has begun an ambitious project to overhaul compensation practices across the financial  sector, including at firms that received no bailout, reports the Wall Street Journal. The government may use the powers of the Fed or the SEC, as well as congressional legislation, to prevent banks from rewarding...

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