Banking Law

Judge Appoints Public Defender for Billionaire R. Allen Stanford

A federal judge today appointed a public defender to represent a Texas billionaire who is accused of bilking $7 billion or so from investors in a scheme that allegedly revolved around an offshore bank’s certificates of deposit. Because R. Allen Stanford’s assets were frozen in a civil suit brought by…

Sep 15, 2009 7:45 PM CDT

Greedy Gordon Gekko to Make a Comeback in ‘Wall Street 2’

Remember Gordon Gekko? Famous for his philosophy that greed is good, the once-mighty corporate raider played by Michael Douglas in the 1987 movie Wall Street has been released from prison just in time to appear in a new Oliver Stone movie that has just begun filming. How Gekko continues to…

Sep 15, 2009 5:25 PM CDT

Bank Exec Accused of Just Moving Into $12M Beach Home Loses Her Job

A senior vice president responsible for commercial foreclosures at Wells Fargo & Co. has lost her job after being accused of making personal use of a $12 million bank-owned beachfront California home over the summer. The owners of the Malibu Colony home had to turn it over to the bank…

Sep 14, 2009 9:42 PM CDT

Calif. State Bar Prez Blasts Lawyers for Taking Advantage of Foreclosure Clients

The new president of the State Bar of California has a message for unscrupulous lawyers who took money from vulnerable clients facing foreclosure without doing anything to help: Your misdeeds will be a priority of disciplinary officials. New state bar president Howard Miller, a partner with the Los Angeles plaintiffs…

Sep 14, 2009 12:27 PM CDT

After Owners Lost $12M Beach Home, Bank Exec Just Moved In, Neighbors Say

A top commercial foreclosure executive at Wells Fargo Bank may be on the hot seat, after a claim by neighbors of a California couple who lost a lavish $12 million beach home to Wells Fargo. They say that she and her family used it as a weekend retreat over the…

Sep 11, 2009 7:46 PM CDT

Why Did the Bank of America Fire Its GC After Merrill Merger Vote?

Four days after the Bank of America’s shareholders approved a merger with Merrill Lynch, the bank’s general counsel, Timothy Mayopoulos, was suddenly fired and escorted from the building without being permitted to return to his desk, reports the New York Times. His firing came on the same day that the…

Sep 9, 2009 6:22 PM CDT

New Wall Street Idea: Buy and Securitize Life Insurance Policies of Elderly

Wall Street investment banks are planning to buy and securitize life insurance policies of older Americans. A $1 million policy might be sold for $400,000, then bundled with other policies and sold to investors, the New York Times reports. Duke law professor James Cox calls the development “bittersweet.” “The sweet…

Sep 8, 2009 11:48 AM CDT

SIPC Covers Some Losses for Madoff Investors, But Not Stanford CDs

When retired accountant Peter Kaltman bought $550,000 in certificates of deposit from Stanford International Bank, the brokerage that sold them to him had the Securities Investor Protection Corp. logo on its stationery. But the SIPC isn’t reimbursing him or other brokerage investors for what allegedly are now virtually worthless CDs…

Sep 4, 2009 11:21 PM CDT

Accused of $74M Loan Fraud, Nemazee Did it Again—Twice, Prosecutors Say

Accused of duping Citibank into giving him a $74 million loan based on fraudulent documents misrepresenting his assets, a prominent Democratic political fundraiser reportedly had paid the money back by the time he was criminally charged with bank fraud last week. But now prosecutors say Hassan Nemazee, 59, got the…

Sep 3, 2009 9:51 PM CDT

Bank Refused to Cash Armless Man’s Check; Required Thumbprint Lacking

It is standard policy at many banks to require non-account-holders to provide a thumbprint when cashing a check drawn on a customer’s account. But what happens when the person seeking to cash the check doesn’t have any arms? That was the issue presented last week when Steve Valdez arrived at…

Sep 2, 2009 10:07 PM CDT

Judge Accused of Bias for Dig About Cigar-Smoking, Latte-Drinking Lawyer

A Florida judge accused of telling a bank lawyer he couldn’t sit in his office “smoking his Cohiba cigars and drinking his lattes” while the court does it work has recused himself from the case. Judge John Doyle told the Daytona Beach News-Journal Online that the lawyer, Farzad Milani, had…

Sep 2, 2009 5:21 PM CDT

Wells: FTC Delay on ‘Red Flag Rule’ Aids ABA Effort

A recent decision to suspend implementation of a controversial federal regulation aimed at preventing identity theft gives the ABA more time to press its argument that the regulation should not be applied to lawyers, said H. Thomas Wells Jr. at his final press briefing as ABA president.

Sep 2, 2009 1:30 AM CDT

Investors Sue Proskauer & Partner Over Alleged Conspiracy With Stanford

Investors who lost money in R. Allen Stanford’s alleged $7 billion Ponzi scheme run under the guise of a banking operation based in Antigua have reportedly filed a class action against Proskauer Rose and partner Thomas Sjoblom. Filed yesterday in federal court in Dallas, it alleges that the firm participated…

Aug 28, 2009 9:36 PM CDT

SEC Blames Wachtell, Shearman for Keeping Bank Bonuses Secret

The Securities and Exchange Commission is blaming two law firms for Bank of America’s failure to disclose $3.6 billion in executive bonuses it planned to pay to executives at Merrill Lynch. An SEC brief points the finger at lawyers from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Shearman & Sterling, according…

Aug 25, 2009 1:45 PM CDT

2 Partners Exit Clifford for Dechert; CC Lost 18 N.Y. Partners in 6 Months

Two corporate partners are leaving the New York office of Clifford Chance for Dechert, adding to an exodus of 18 partners who have departed the London-based megafirm’s Big Apple office between March and July. The latest to announce their exit are Richard Horowitz and Stuart Strauss, who are joining the…

Aug 20, 2009 11:18 PM CDT