Banking Law

Law Firms Rev Up for Expected Bank Litigation Barrage

A traditional taboo against suing banks among big-league United Kingdom law firms is rapidly losing its power as legal eagles there and abroad rev their engines in anticipation of a barrage of bank-related litigation. The biggest London legal advisers to banks still won’t accept such litigation matters, either because they…

Feb 19, 2008 5:03 PM CST

Big Bankruptcy Case Discovers Forged Attorney Opinion Letters

When opinion letters apparently written by a prominent New Jersey lawyer were sent to Merrill Lynch Business Financial Services in 2004 along with alleged fake financial statements, the bank reportedly took the documents at face value. Relying on them, it issued a multimillion-dollar loan to a now-bankrupt company. But now…

Feb 13, 2008 9:25 PM CST

Payday Lenders Flout Law on Seizing Gov’t. Benefits, Newspaper Says

Under federal law, creditors aren’t supposed to be able to seize social security payments, or disability or veterans benefits to pay a debt, and the government won’t send their checks directly to creditors. But at least some payday lenders have found a way around those prohibitions, and are now targeting…

Feb 13, 2008 12:03 AM CST

New Mortgage Rescue Plan Announced; Critics Say It Doesn’t Do Enough

As six major banks and federal officials announced a relief plan today for delinquent homeowners, critics were already saying that the Project Lifeline program doesn’t do enough to help those struggling to make their payments. Under the program, banks will send letters to those who are more than 90 days…

Feb 12, 2008 5:03 PM CST

New Deal by Banks Offers Hope to Delinquent Mortgage Debtors

Prodded by politicians and perhaps seeing a potential benefit to themselves, six major banks are expected to announce a new program tomorrow morning to help seriously past-due mortgage debtors climb out of the delinquency pit. Although details of the Project Lifeline plan are sketchy, the six banks will work with…

Feb 12, 2008 12:01 AM CST

Another Man Held in $7B SocGen Rogue Trading Case

Another person is being held for questioning in connection with the $7 billion-plus rogue trading scandal at Société Générale, potentially contradicting the bank’s earlier explanation that the initial suspect, Jerome Kerviel, acted alone. Meanwhile, Kerviel was taken into custody after a Paris appeals court revoked his bail at a court…

Feb 8, 2008 8:22 PM CST

Ex-Lawyer Takes Deceased Dad’s ID, Gets $1.8M in Mortgages—and 4+Years

A disbarred New York attorney has reportedly pleaded guilty in the middle of a trial to assuming his deceased father’s identity and misrepresenting himself as a lawyer, in order to obtain almost $1.8 million in real estate financing through fraudulent mortgage transactions. Rafael Pantoja, 49, is now facing a potential…

Feb 7, 2008 8:39 PM CST

GC of Troubled Sallie Mae Resigns, Says He Wants to Spend Time With Family

Sallie Mae’s general counsel Robert Lavet resigned at the end of January, in advance of two investor lawsuits against the student lender. Lavet told Corporate Counsel he resigned to spend more time with his family. “Obviously it was a difficult year, but I just decided I needed some time off”…

Feb 7, 2008 3:04 PM CST

Cadwalader Equity Partner Profit Dips, But Microsoft Deal Will Refill Coffers

The average profit per equity partner dropped 6 percent in 2007 at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, the law firm reported today. However, overall revenue increased 5 percent at the New York-based firm, according to Legal Week. As discussed in a previous ABAJournal.com post, Cadwalader announced 35 lawyer layoffs last month…

Feb 5, 2008 6:05 PM CST

States Seek Unclaimed Property for Themselves, Owners Sue

Once upon a time, legislatures throughout the country enacted unclaimed property laws intended to make sure that banks and other companies holding assets that the owners seemed to have forgotten about made efforts to notify them. But today a growing number of states are making it more difficult for owners…

Feb 4, 2008 11:22 PM CST

Bank’s Loss of $7.2B Could Mean Big Bucks for Rogue Trader

Jerome Kerviel’s career in the securities industry appears to be at an end after the stunning news late last month that the junior trader allegedly cost one of France’s biggest and best-known banks a record $7.2 billion in losses. Meanwhile, he appears likely to be criminally prosecuted, and the French…

Feb 4, 2008 5:10 PM CST

McKee Nelson Rode Subprime Boom to Big Profits, Sees Opportunities Ahead

The small but well-regarded law firm McKee Nelson became something of a powerhouse representing lenders that bundled home loans into securities, grossing $202.5 million in 2006. The law firm, which helped lenders write or review prospectuses for the securities, was involved in 3,300 deals totaling $2.7 trillion since 2000, the…

Feb 1, 2008 11:46 AM CST

FBI Probes 14 Companies Involved in Subprime Mortgages

The FBI is investigating 14 companies in connection with the fallout in the subprime mortgage market. The criminal inquiries will include a look at possible accounting fraud and insider trading, according to reports in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). The FBI will also cooperate with…

Jan 30, 2008 11:39 AM CST

Record $7B Rogue Trader Fraud Alleged at French Bank

Updated: An all-time record $7 billion fraud allegedly perpetrated on a renowned French bank by a rogue junior trader has left the Societe Generale reeling. One of the country’s oldest and biggest banks, SocGen discovered over the weekend that it had been the victim of a “scheme of elaborate fictitious…

Jan 24, 2008 5:01 PM CST

Citigroup Rolls Dice on Trial in Enron Creditor Litigation

It wasn’t just Enron Corp. that was responsible for the massive fraud that wiped out the once-mighty energy trader, creditors contend. Nearly a dozen banks also participated, they argue. And, of the 11 financial institutions accused of wrongdoing, 10 have settled for a total of $1.73 billion, upping the ante…

Jan 23, 2008 4:54 PM CST