Banking Law

Chase CEO Suggests ‘Whale’ Swallowed $2B in Profits, Admits ‘Egregious Mistakes’; SEC Opens Probe

A trader working for JP Morgan Chase & Co. known as the “London Whale” is being publicly blamed for what the bank’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, describes as a potential $2 billion loss due to what news reports are calling a bet on corporate bonds. Dimon, who had last month called…

May 11, 2012 6:06 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Suit Alleges a Scheme to Collect Additional Interest on Student Loans

A New York lawyer claims in a lawsuit that borrowers are being duped into paying less principal on their student loans because of a misleading notice about an interest rate reduction. Justin Kuehn, 29, says in the complaint that he became aware of the “scheme to collect additional interest” early…

May 3, 2012 12:11 PM CDT

Report: Deadline Looms for Dewey to Renegotiate $100M Credit Line; Two More Partners Leave

Updated: Dewey & LeBoeuf owes about $75 million to a syndicate of bank lenders, money drawn on its $100 million credit line, according to a published report. Now the law firm is facing an end-of-the-month deadline to renegotiate the credit line, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. The $75…

Apr 24, 2012 12:10 PM CDT

ABA Asks Consumer Watchdog Agency to Withdraw Proposed Rule on Privileged Information

The ABA is expressing concern that a proposed rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could weaken, rather than safeguard, protections for attorney-client privilege and work product. The ABA says the proposed rule should be withdrawn until legislation is passed to provide explicit protection for privileged bank materials shared with…

Apr 20, 2012 10:59 AM CDT

Minnesota Law Firm Milavetz Gallop Files Suit Blaming Wells Fargo for Loss in Nigerian Scam

Updated: Milavetz, Gallop & Milavetz of Edina, Minn., claims in a lawsuit that Wells Fargo Bank is responsible for its loss of nearly $400,000 in a scam targeting law firms. Milavetz Gallop fell victim to the scam when someone claiming to be a 40-year-old Korean woman hurt in Minnesota told…

Apr 11, 2012 1:45 PM CDT

Dewey Structured Finance Chief to Join Mayer Brown; He Is the 47th Partner to Exit Firm

Another partner of Dewey & LeBoeuf has given notice, bringing to at least 47 the number who have headed for the exit in 2012. Stephen Rooney, who heads the firm’s structured finance practice, is the ninth partner to announce his exit this week. He will soon join Mayer Brown, which…

Apr 6, 2012 5:59 PM CDT

Lawyers Win Reprieve for Boots the Cat, Ordered Euthanized in Owner’s Will

Boots the cat will be able to live out the remainder of her life at a no-kill shelter called Cats are Purrsons Too, thanks to lawyers for a bank appointed to manage the estate of the cat’s owner. The 1988 will of Boots’ owner, Georgia Lee Dvorak, specified that any…

Apr 5, 2012 2:18 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Worked at Colo.‘s Biggest Foreclosure Firm Says Legal Process Is Based on ‘Blind Faith’

A lawyer who formerly worked at Colorado’s biggest foreclosure law firm says attorneys often filed foreclosure papers without ever seeing the original documents, probably resulting in foreclosure judgments in cases in which the plaintiff lenders actually had no legal right to the homes they obtained. Keith Gantenbein, 31, is expected…

Mar 13, 2012 5:55 PM CDT

Homeowner on ‘60 Minutes’ Foreclosure Program Will Get $18M Settlement in Whistle-Blower Case

A Florida homeowner and foreclosure fighter who was featured on a 60 Minutes program about the so-called robo-signing scandal concerning improperly attested documents is scheduled to get an $18 million settlement from a whistle-blower case. The money will come from a $95 million settlement between five of the nation’s biggest…

Mar 13, 2012 4:45 PM CDT

Bankruptcy Lawyers Warn of Looming Student Loan ‘Debt Bomb’

Student loan debt could turn into another crisis for the economy, according to the president of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. William Brewer is putting a pessimistic spin on his group’s survey of 860 bankruptcy lawyers. “This could very well be the next debt bomb for the U.S.…

Mar 12, 2012 12:30 PM CDT

FDIC Sues Officers of Another Failed Bank; Critics Say Agency Goes Easy on Ex-Executives

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has sued 12 former directors and officers at the failed Freedom Bank in Georgia, part of an ongoing effort to recover losses to its insurance fund. The suit filed last week claims the bank made 21 loans without adequate documentation to borrowers who had no…

Mar 7, 2012 4:08 PM CST

Jury in $7B Fraud Case is Having Trouble With Verdict; Judge Reads New Instruction

A federal jury in Houston hearing the fraud case against R. Allen Stanford is having trouble reaching verdict on at least some of the 14 counts against the onetime billionaire concerning accusations he bilked investors in a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. U.S. District Judge David Hittner read the panel a…

Mar 6, 2012 2:52 PM CST

ABA Urges Protection for Privileged Banking Material Shared with New Consumer Bureau

The ABA is urging Congress to update federal legislation to provide explicit protection for privileged bank materials shared with the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In letters to key House and Senate leaders, ABA President Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III says he supports pending legislation to make clear there…

Feb 24, 2012 5:38 PM CST

Legal Fees Top $100M for Ex-Fannie and Freddie Executives, and Taxpayers Cover the Tab

Legal fees for former executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have totaled $109 million since 2004, and taxpayers are advancing the money. A report by the inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency says contracts calling for payment of the fees could have been repudiated when Fannie and…

Feb 22, 2012 1:08 PM CST

Chapman and Cutler Raids Orrick for 6-Partner Finance Team to Open DC Office

Chapman and Cutler has announced that it plans to open an office in Washington, D.C., with six structured finance and securitization partners from Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. The Chapman firm has been looking at D.C. for some time, because many of its clients are regulated there, the Am Law Daily…

Feb 15, 2012 7:14 PM CST