Miles v. Deutsche Bank

Anat Admati, who teaches finance and economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, is co-author of The Bankers’ New Clothes, a classic account of the problem of Too Big to Fail banks. On May 6th she will address the “Finance and Society” conference sponsored by the Institute for New Economic Thinking, featuring influential women who have challenged the status quo, like Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, IMF Managing Director Christine LaGarde, and Senator Elizabeth Warren. Admati will join Brooksley Born, former chair of Chair of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, to discuss how effective financial regulation can make the system work better for society. Seven years after financial hell broke loose, Admati warns that we are far from fixing a bloated and dangerous financial system – and that the system can’t fix itself. Why should you care? This gigantic house of cards could fall on you.

Lynn Parramore: How…

New York law gives investors who say they were duped into buying flawed mortgage bonds six years to sue. But does the clock start ticking on the day the bonds were packaged or after problems with the loans came to light?

On Thursday, New York’s highest court confronted that question as it considered an appeal by investors seeking to force a Deutsche Bank AG unit to buy back bad loans packaged into securities before the financial crisis. The eventual ruling by the state Court of Appeals could open the door to many more such cases if the investors’ trustee prevails.

Paul Clement, a lawyer for the trustee, told the court that the six-year statute of limitations begins to run only after the flaws are discovered — and not, as the bank argued, when the bonds were packaged and sold years earlier.

“This is a contract that extends for 30 years,”…

Law360, Los Angeles (April 29, 2015, 8:27 PM ET) — Bank of America Corp. will pay $180 million to settle claims in an antitrust class action alleging it was part of a conspiracy to rig the approximately $5 trillion-per-day foreign exchange market, according to a Wednesday securities filing.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank said in a 10-Q form that it would use its existing reserves to cover the cost of settling the suit and that the deal is subject to court approval. Bank of America announced the settlement on Apr. 16 but didn’t disclose the amount…

Source: Law360

Robert Kraus lost his job in 2006 after he says he raised red flags about questionable activities in the corporate and investment bank at Wachovia, now part of Wells Fargo. Since then, he says he has fallen behind on his mortgage because he hasn’t been able to find work in financial services.

“It’s impossible to support my family,” Kraus said in an interview. “I’m unable to find work in my field.”

Wells Fargo started foreclosure proceedings against Kraus and his wife, Julianne, in December, according to court documents. The Krauses are behind on payments on the $515,000 mortgage for their Waxhaw home. A hearing before the Union County Clerk of Superior Court is scheduled for June 9.

It’s not unusual for whistleblowers to fall on hard times, said Fred Alford, a professor of government at the University of Maryland who has written a book on whistleblowers. About half lose their…

• More than seven years after the global financial collapse, regulators and investors are still working through a mile-high pile of lawsuits and other civil actions, and it seems like the fines keep on coming.
• Since the crisis, banks and other institutions have paid more than $150B in fines, settlements and other penalties, according to a tally by FT. That compares with the roughly $700B in profits generated by U.S. banks between 2007 and 2014.
• So where have all the payments gone? The biggest have landed in the Justice Department, which has collected some $50B. Other heavy collectors include the FHFA, Fannie Mae, HUD and the SEC.
• Among the banks paying the biggest amounts, BofA (NYSE:BAC) tops the list – with nearly $58B, followed by JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) ($31.3B), Citigroup (NYSE:C) ($12.8B) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) ($9.7B).

THE HIDDEN TRUTH

Behind the collapse of the economy in the U.S. and around the world is the massive loss of pension and retirement funds belonging to government employees, union workers and corporate 401k beneficiaries – these were the “investors” in the securitization fraud stemming from the unregulated derivatives.  Hordes of lawsuits have been filed by investors against Wall Street banks, but it’s pretty obvious the money is gone.