Banking Law

FOX Files FOIA Suit to Get Treasury Info About $700B Bailout

FOX Business Network has sued the U.S. Treasury in federal court in New York, saying that the agency has stonewalled Freedom of Information Act requests for information concerning its expenditures under the $700 billion federal bailout bill. “The television network, a unit of News Corp., said in a release that…

Dec 18, 2008 8:54 PM CST

New Rules Limit Surprise Interest Hikes on Credit Cards

New credit card rules that will make it harder for banks to surprise consumers with sudden annual interest rate increases are being approved today by several federal agencies. The rules, which apparently specify that such increases constitute prohibited “unfair or deceptive” practices, also will require lenders to give consumers a…

Dec 18, 2008 6:13 PM CST

How Did Lawyers Enable the Meltdown?

In the game of blame that followed the deepest financial implosion since the Great Depression, bankers and money managers have borne their share of attention. But how much blame should lawyers bear? Plenty. As legislators, they helped remove restrictions on commercial banks that allowed them to get involved with subprime…

Dec 18, 2008 3:25 PM CST

FDIC to Pay Texas Financier $10M to Settle Legal Defense Claim

Ending a legal battle that began after the 1988 collapse of a Texas savings and loan indirectly controlled by financier Charles Hurwitz, the FDIC has agreed to pay him $10 million. The award is intended to cover his defense costs in earlier litigation involving both the thrift’s failure and, a…

Dec 17, 2008 9:40 PM CST

Dreier Founder Charged in ‘Brazen’ Alleged $100M Investment Fraud Attempt

The founder of the not quite 250-attorney Dreier law firm was charged today by federal prosecutors in Manhattan with securities and wire fraud, in connection with what an Securities and Exchange Commission official describes as an alleged “brazen” attempt to cheat three unnamed hedge funds out of $100 million. Marc…

Dec 8, 2008 8:09 PM CST

Trump’s Lawyer Calls Bank Suit Over Chicago Hotel Loan ‘Legal Stupidity’

The lead lender on a hotel and condominium tower in Chicago has sued Donald Trump, seeking to enforce a $40 million personal guarantee. The suit by Deutsche Bank Trust Co. was filed in a state court in Manhattan, report Crain’s Chicago Business and the Chicago Tribune. The bank is also…

Dec 1, 2008 1:53 PM CST

Lackluster Growth at Linklaters Despite Lehman Bros. Work

Despite its high-profile role in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, the magic circle London-based Linklaters law firm saw only a 3 percent increase in revenue during a six-month period ending Oct. 30. “The firm generated fee income of £653 million for the first six months to October 30, it announced today,…

Nov 24, 2008 5:59 PM CST

After Indictment of UBS Executive, Swiss Bank’s US Clients Seek IRS Deals

Although the IRS lacks the resources to go after all of the estimated 20,000 U.S. residents who reportedly may have set up secret accounts at UBS AG in order to avoid taxes, that’s proving not to be a major enforcement problem. Following news that an executive of the Swiss bank…

Nov 24, 2008 4:36 PM CST

Some Law Firms Sue Banks, Some Don’t

When disgruntled corporate investors are looking for counsel to represent them against the financial institutions that allegedly misled them, they don’t go to the major law firms in London renowned for their banking expertise. And they don’t go to the United States competitors of these London firms, either, reports Bloomberg.…

Nov 19, 2008 5:47 PM CST

FDIC Breaks With Bush Administration on Foreclosure Policy

In a highly unusual move, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has gone public with a proposed mortgage foreclosure rescue plan that conflicts with the position taken by the U.S. Treasury Department and the White House. The president and the treasury department say a $700 billion financial rescue…

Nov 14, 2008 11:22 PM CST

Fed Could Be Sole Regulator for Financial Institutions, Says Sullivan Chair

Speaking at a conference today in New York on the outlook for mergers and acquisitions, a famed attorney dealmaker predicted that one result of the current economic crisis will be streamlined regulation for financial institutions. H. Rodgin Cohen, the chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell, “said the crisis was likely to…

Nov 13, 2008 12:03 AM CST

UBS Exec Charged in Federal Tax Fraud Conspiracy Case

A senior private banking executive with UBS AG has been indicted in a federal tax fraud conspiracy case after months of investigation of how some U.S. residents allegedly dodged their taxes by hiding some $20 billion in assets in secret accounts. However, a lawyer for Raoul Weil says the case…

Nov 12, 2008 9:28 PM CST

Wachtell to Clients: Lessons Learned from Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy

A memo to clients yesterday from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz discusses lessons that some major investors learned the hard way from the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. For example, hedge funds and other counterparties who put up collateral, as a condition of making trades through Lehman’s prime brokerage unit, discovered that…

Nov 12, 2008 5:50 PM CST

UBS Gave Feds Information About Customers’ Bank Accounts in US

As part of a federal probe of whether Americans dodged taxes by secreting assets in Swiss bank accounts, UBS has provided data about bank accounts in the United States. “U.S. authorities have requested data from UBS on U.S. onshore clients,” a spokesman for the Switzerland-based bank tells Reuters. “UBS must…

Nov 11, 2008 6:48 PM CST

Trump Files $3B Suit Against Lenders for Chicago Condo and Hotel Skyscraper

Donald Trump is suing to extend a $640 million construction loan on a condominium and condo hotel project in Chicago that will be the nation’s second-tallest building. Slowing sales of condos and hotel rooms put projected revenue nearly $100 million below the amount needed to pay off a group of…

Nov 10, 2008 5:02 PM CST