Citi’s $285 million slap on the wrist
As we have seen so many times before, Wall Street is once again working through the cycle in which it exploits its customers, gets caught, pays a fine and moves on. On Wednesday, Citigroup agreed to...
View ArticleThe plan to continue ignoring the mortgage crisis (Updated)
(Updates with comments from George Craft in the third and fourth paragraphs.) The Obama administration yesterday unveiled an overhaul of its failed mortgage rescue plan, and it’s a little like throwing...
View ArticlePulling the plug on `robosigning’— again
You may have thought that after the mortgage meltdown, banks and mortgage companies had ended the practice of robosigning, in which they have low-paid staffers signing hundreds of documents a day and...
View ArticleFannie and Freddie executives take their turn at the trough
It’s an all-too-familiar pattern, yet this time it’s occurring within a government agency rather than a publicly traded company: executives getting handsome rewards while their businesses flounder....
View ArticleJudge to Citi: if you don’t admit it, you can’t settle it
A federal judge in New York has struck down a proposed $285 million settlement that Citigroup reached with the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations that the bank misled investors about...
View ArticleFoxes and henhouses? Justice officials linked to mortgage banks
Amid mounting pressure for a sweeping criminal investigation into the mortgage meltdown, Reuters reports that two of the highest-ranking Justice Department officials, Attorney General Eric Holder and...
View ArticleFreddie Mac places multibillion-dollar bets against homeowners
The government-owned mortgage giant Freddie Mac placed multibillion-dollar bets that homeowners would stay trapped in expensive mortgages with high interest rates, according to a report by ProPublica...
View ArticleThe big banks’ Big Tobacco moment
The country’s biggest banks have agreed to pay $25 billion to settle claims of foreclosure abuses that occurred after the mortgage meltdown. It’s the biggest industry-wide settlement since the states...
View ArticleHow done is the $25 billion mortgage deal?
Although the Justice Department and attorneys general for 49 states announced the massive $25 billion settlement over robosigning and other mortgage abuses with the big banks last week, it’s not clear...
View ArticleStill no final deal in mortgage settlement
The government may, finally, file the details of its $25 billion foreclosure abuse settlement this week.
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