SEC Reportedly In Settlement Talks With BofA And UBS

Reuters:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Securities and Exchange Commission is in settlement talks with several large financial institutions to resolve investigations into the awarding of municipal investment contracts, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

Read the whole story: Reuters

Comments

[jeffp26]

Mary Schapiro is corrupt, but she knows one thing: how to shake down corporations. That is what she excelled at while she ran the joke of a self-regulator, FINRA.

I would laugh at her, but this isn't funny for investors.

[vandegrasse]

I'm beginning to understand the popular appeal of bank robbers like Bonnie and Clyde.

[vandegrasse]

If a corporation is to be treated as a "person" under the Constitution then I say haul every one of its employees into jail if they break the law. No reason to negotiate with criminals! Would these banks negotiate with bank robbers?

[StickMarket]

need to stop the admixure of money & politics. Time 4 the peopel to get the reform they need. heath care, education, a stable well paying job, and housing.

good articles; http://financeopinionss.blogspot.com

Lets hope Obama will succeed

[PhilipTaylor]

WHAT A COUNTRY? - Financial Services doing BID-RIGGING FOR MUNI-BONDS!

Taking FUNDS from our Cities to line Executives Pockets!

SEC, after a 3 year investigation regarding fraud in awarding of municipal investment contracts by BofA and UBS, has handed indictments to CDR Financial Products Inc plus their current &former executives, for bid-rigging & fraud related to municipal bond contracts.

[vandegrasse]

Phillip, surely you've given up on this government by now? It's like a mad bull on a rampage. No matter's who's riding it it keeps going the same direction. I most assuredly have come to the conclusion that the corporations have irreparably damaged this government and this country! They're too strong for ever the government to control.

[Ranta]

........and as usual, no criminal charges. Martha Stewart already did their time for them.

[mcmutter]

Ain't no job more cushy than enforcement at the SEC, retire rich.....

[CarmanK]

Isn't it the SEC that just hired a 29 year old to enforce new regulations? I think he is from Goldman. How do you rebuild confidence in a system when so many individuals are still serving two masters??? US Government and their former employers on Wall Street. Why do I feel like we are being suckered all over again???

[dadw5boys]

For 20 years the Republicans have stripped down the Quality of Employees and seldom enforced rules.

Why were the RICO laws and other laws not enforced under Bush the FBI was reporting record levels of Fraud in home loans back in 2002 and 2004 . Not one proscution.

[TJCole]

Who can trust the SEC...?

[venusvictrix]

Goldman, Citi, JP Morgan Chase, BofA., . . . . for starters.

[loki]

Business as usual. The banks commits crimes. get caught, pay settlement­s/fines/br­ibe/payoff­s/ect.... they never admit guilt, and within 24 hours its back to corruption as usual. Its a great scam if your rich enough to be included in the club.

[sposton]

Let's see what kind of settlement you get when you break a law. I you stole $1000 could you get away with it by giving a portion of that back?

All of this is not just a matter of fairness - it is a matter of national survival. See Paul Craig Roberts's recent piece:

http://vdare.com/roberts/091025_next_crisis.htm

[MissVirginiaVoter]

Whoa...read the article and it's "spot on". My close friend is in the mortgage industry and he is so disgusted with the big banks that he is considering a new career.

I hear his stories about all these big banks denying loan modifications and hiring the most inept people to handle the short sales and loan mods. It sickens me with the stories he tells me, I just wish there was something we could do....it's so frustrating!

[dadw5boys]

So much fraud in most of the loans they are afraid to open a lot of them to refiance.

[archerlane]

Settlement???

Let's see, steal a billion(1000 million), give back a few million in fines and admit no wrong doing.
Previous history of the sec demonstrates this settlement practice.

Head line should read, PROSECUTIONS, CLAWBACKS and PENALTIES.

[schatsie]

You know when Kenny Lay pulled off the BIG ONE, I happened to travel to Paris and read the sign in front the the Town Hall, that said this is where we guillotined people.....Funny thing we still had Bush baby pulling the trigger for executions in Texas, but never for his biggest contributor and one of the biggest FRAUDS and TAX CHEATS in this country....You cannot tell me that ENRON"S RAPE of California (charging 60 billion in overcharges) was correctly accounted for to the IRS or the SHAREHOLDERs...

[DASChicago]

I'm in total agreement with that!

[wheresthetruth]

When the dust settles there will be insignificant fines to be borne by the shareholders with no jail time whatsoever for the perpetrators. The SEC will have a press conference trumpeting their heroic efforts to protect the the downtrodden taxpayer from the clutches of the bad guys. After that, business as usual.

I hope I'm wrong, but I probably won't be.

[xansam]

you are 100% correct, sadly.

[POSTANDCOMMENT]

we need universal heath care. Insurance companies deny coverage. Ripping people off.

good articles http://financeopinionss.blogspot.com