Banking Law

New FDIC-Like Entity to Oversee Corporate Bailouts, Post-AIG?

In the wake of widespread anger over news of big bonuses paid to executives at American International Group in the midst of a taxpayer-funded bailout that could hit $185 billion, the Obama administration is now proposing a new regulatory entity to oversee the operation of struggling corporations. Akin to the…

Mar 19, 2009 1:53 AM CDT

Morgan & Finnegan’s Accounts Frozen; Severance Checks Bounce

A judge has issued an injunction barring Morgan & Finnegan from selling or transferring assets in a suit claiming the dissolved law firm defaulted on its loan agreement. JPMorgan Chase contends Morgan & Finnegan owes it more than $4 million, the American Lawyer reports. Above the Law reported on the…

Mar 17, 2009 2:48 PM CDT

Big Bank Files Mortgage Racketeering Suit Against Individual Borrowers

A major international bank has filed an unusual federal civil racketeering lawsuit in Seattle against a mortgage broker, an escrow agent–and 10 couples. It contends that they conspired to defraud ING Bank of $6 million by falsifying mortgage applications, reports the Seattle Times. However, the couples say that they, too,…

Mar 16, 2009 7:11 PM CDT

Head of Citigroup’s Law Firm Group Jumps to JPMorgan Chase

Lester Pataki, the lawyer who headed Citigroup Inc.’s law firm group for the last five years, is moving to JPMorgan Chase. Pataki’s role at his new employer wasn’t immediately known, the Am Law Daily reports. JPMorgan Chase doesn’t have an organized legal lending group. Citigroup’s law firm group is the…

Mar 16, 2009 2:11 PM CDT

Banks Ask UK Partners to Risk Assets for Law Firm Cash

Partners at law firms in the United Kingdom are being asked to risk their own assets to help keep loan money flowing to their law firms. Banks in the country are leery of lending to law firms structured as limited liability partnerships and are asking partners to help shoulder the…

Mar 12, 2009 5:04 PM CDT

Business Booming for Lawyers Who Help Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

There’s one area of law practice that’s booming right now for attorneys in many areas of the country. With foreclosures at record levels, homeowners need help reaching a resolution with lenders. And while they may not be able to pay a lawyer much, if anything, many attorneys are either taking…

Mar 9, 2009 9:18 PM CDT

Supreme Court Rules for Consumer Resisting Compelled Arbitration

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a federal court has no jurisdiction to hear a credit card company’s motion to compel arbitration of a consumer dispute that began in state court. The justices ruled 5-4 in favor of consumer Betty Vaden, the Associated Press reports. Discover Bank had filed…

Mar 9, 2009 4:49 PM CDT

House OKs Mortgage ‘Cramdown’ Bill; Tougher Fight Expected in Senate

A controversial bill that would give bankruptcy judges the power to reduce the principal balance on a debtor’s personal residence passed the U.S. House of Representatives tonight but is expected to face a tougher fight in the Senate. Under the “cramdown” legislation, bankruptcy judges could also reduce the interest rate…

Mar 6, 2009 2:02 AM CST

Bankruptcy Filings Up 31% in 2008; Mortgage Foreclosures Hit New High

Bankruptcy and foreclosure litigation are likely to remain hot practice areas as the economy continues its free fall and housing values plummet. Newly released statistics show a 31 percent increase in bankruptcy filings in 2008, compared to the previous calendar year, and mortgage delinquencies are at an all-time high. Mortgage…

Mar 5, 2009 7:59 PM CST

Corp. & City Bankruptcies May Surge; Bank Failures Deplete FDIC Coffers

After a banner year for company bankruptcies in 2008, a surge of new filings is now expected as the nation’s financial crisis continues. Meanwhile, a series of bank failures has depleted the coffers of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Because of the credit shortage, a number of companies may be…

Mar 4, 2009 7:20 PM CST

Internal Memo Shows UBS Ignored Baker & McKenzie’s Warnings

A memo released by a Senate panel suggests Swiss banking giant UBS ignored warnings from Baker & McKenzie that diverting U.S. clients into offshore entities could run afoul of its commitment to report taxes under an Internal Revenue Service program. The New York Times has the details. UBS was participating…

Mar 4, 2009 12:53 PM CST

Debt Collectors Find the Dead Can Be More Lucrative Than the Living

Often, the living have no obligation to pay the debts of dead relatives. But a growing legion of sympathetic debt collectors is seeking to persuade them to do so. With the help of today’s database technology, it’s relatively easy to determine when an estate is opened in any of the…

Mar 4, 2009 4:29 AM CST

Co. Had Right to Call ‘Business’ Loan Used By Poker-Playing Va. Lawyer

Nothing in the promissory note he signed for a $250,000 business loan said he couldn’t use the money to play poker, argued attorney Michael Melkersen. But a federal district court in the Western District of New York court agreed with Counsel Financial Services that the loan company didn’t have to…

Mar 3, 2009 10:45 PM CST

Bernanke: ‘Huge Gap’ Allowed AIG ‘Hedge Fund,’ Costing US Up to $200B

Testifying today at a Senate Budget Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the financial products division of major insurance company had been operated like a hedge fund with virtually no government oversight. The fact that American International Group Inc. then had to be rescued with…

Mar 3, 2009 5:54 PM CST

State Prosecutors Give Bad Check Cases to Private Collectors, Share Money

Those who have written a bad check tend to pay up when they get a letter from a state prosecutor’s office. However, in some states, such letters are actually being sent by private collection agencies, reports CNN. Such outsourcing is controversial, because collection can take place without the government ever…

Mar 2, 2009 9:25 PM CST