Mortgage Meltdown

Recent Posts from Mortgage Meltdown

• In First Subprime Criminal Trial, Managers Of Bear Stearns Hedge Fund Acquitted

  In the first criminal trial related to the subprime mortgage meltdown, prosecutors were unable to secure the convictions of Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin when the jury acquitted each defendant on all counts today (coverage…

• Credit Crisis May Have Rendered Performance Of Contract Impossible Says 7th Circuit In Affirming Temporary Injunction

  Last week the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed (opinion here) a district court's decision to issue a temporary injunction preventing John Hancock Life Insurance from enforcing its contractual rights under a complicated sale/lease-back transaction…

• So Far Treasury Is Making Money On Investments In Banks

  Beginning back in June, some of the larger banks began buying back the Treasury Department's preferred securities the Government purchased as part of the TARP Capital Purchase Program. You remember TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program),…

• Connecticut Judge Says UBS Probably Defrauded Hedge Fund In Sale Of CDO's

  After a one-week hearing on a hedge fund's claim that UBS violated state securities laws when it sold mortgage-backed CDO's to it in 2007 and early 2008, a Connecticut trial court judge required UBS to…

• FDIC Gearing Up for Dead Bank Litigation?

  So far this year, the FDIC has closed 57 banks (list here) at a cost of about $12.7 billion to the deposit insurance fund. That is a lot of dead banks, and even more former…

• Despite Efforts, Tide of Foreclosures Continues

  Despite efforts by States, the Federal Government, and private initiatives to reduce foreclosures, they appear to continue unabated (article here). Foreclosures in the second quarter of 2009 increased 20% over last year to a record…

• DOJ Antitrust Division Looks Into CDS Pricing Issues

  As reported by the Wall Street Journal (here), the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice is investigating potential violations in the Credit Default Swap market, asking for information from Markit Group Holdings Ltd. Markit…

• Treasury Issues New Rules on Executive Compensation for TARP Participants

  Late last week, the Treasury department issued an interim final rule (somewhat of an oxymoron, but that is what it is called) entitled "TARP Standards for Compensation and Corporate Governance." The Treasury Department was given…

• Catching Up

  Well, it's good to be back writing this blog again. Sorry to my readers for the long, unexplained absence. I just returned from an almost month-long trial in Baltimore, Maryland (I am based in Reinhart's…

• New SEC Chair Weighs In On Ratings Agencies

  The credit rating agencies that provided securities packaging subprime mortgages with investment grade ratings have been in the cross-hairs of regulators and plaintiffs since the mortgage meltdown first began in the spring and summer of…