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Federal and state regulators have been investigating marketing of the securities by a number of big banks. Another case surfaced this week: the Massachusetts attorney general's office reached a settlement with investment firm Morgan Stanley for allegedly selling the risky auction-rate securities to cities and towns, but presenting the investments as safe.
As part of the settlement filed Wednesday, Morgan Stanley agreed to repurchase $1.5 million in the securities it sold to a pair of local municipalities, and fully reimburse any city or town that invested in auction-rate securities. The New York-based company said it was pleased to settle the case without financial penalty.
Cuomo's office sued the Swiss bank UBS AG last month over billions of dollars in sales in auction-rate securities, and other states have filed similar complaints. Massachusetts last week accused Merrill Lynch of fraud in promoting the sale of auction-rate securities. In May, Wachovia Corp. disclosed that it has received requests from the SEC for information regarding sales of auction-rate securities.
BofA said in a regulatory filing Thursday that various state and federal regulators are looking into its dealings with the securities. In addition, the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank said four purported class action lawsuits have also been filed against it on behalf of purchasers of auction-rate securities.
UBS was last night thought to be close to its own settlement, while dozens of financial institutions have been subpoenaed by the New York Attorney General, including the Bank of America and the Royal Bank of Canada.
Merrill Lynch last night offered to buy back $10bn worth of the securities sold to 30,000 of its clients, while Credit Suisse is being sued by French firm ST Microelectronics for placing $450m of its cash into auction-rate securities without permission.
Originally posted by Rockpuck
It took a pissed off Attorney General of New York to stop these bastards..
Originally posted by OBE1
In the seedy world of corporate monopoly, the agreed-upon 7.2BB buyback was probably viewed as a cheap stay-out-of-jail card.
I won't be surprised if a % of this debt is ultimately reflected in the balance of taxpayer liabilities.
Let the write-downs begin
UBS is close to resolving the claims by promising retail and institutional clients it will buy back the securities, valued at $25 billion by regulators, the person said. Merrill Lynch offered yesterday to purchase about $10 billion in auction-rate debt from individual investors.
Citigroup set a framework for settling state and federal regulators' claims yesterday when it agreed to buy $7.3 billion of debt from individual investors, pledged to help 2,600 institutional customers unload $12 billion of securities and said it will pay $100 million in fines. Bank of America Corp. analyst Jeffrey Rosenberg estimates banks that purchase the auction-rate debt may have to write it down by a total of $4 billion.
This book is quite literally a tell all of all the names of who financed Adolph Hitler's rise to power by financial means. The man didn't get into power just by his lies, but by lies of other men too, the men with power, with money, and influence, and the access to Wall Street. You would be surprised to see the names within this book that financed "the funny little man, with the funny little mustache" that almost took over the entire world.
I will not ruin the book for you by telling all the names in it, but I will tell you two men's name I know you will instantly recognize.
Henry Ford & Edsel Ford. Yes, those "Ford's", from Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford even got the highest award the Nazi's could give to a foreigner, in recognition of his assistance to Adolph Hitler, and his picture hung in Hitler's office.
Just so you know, I am not a fan of the Nazi's, nor am I a racist of any kind, nor a fan of Adolph Hitler. I'm following a papertrail to find out all the names of who helped the man get into power to begin with, because I am someone who knows there's more to history than what they teach you in school. It doesn't just come down to the lies a politician tells the people who put them in office, but to the power-brokers who finance the man. Adolph Hitler was a politician, plain and simple. He knew how to lie to the people and give them comfort through manipulative persuasion and then when the people willingly gave him the power he went for the throat of the world.
Another good book that tells the details of who assisted Hitler that you may be able to find here on Amazon is, "IBM and the Holocaust."
Yes, I am talking about that "IBM" here too. They helped Hitler track down the Jews and other "undesirables" (Hitler's words, not Mine) through the use of the census and the Hollerith Card Sorting Machine.
Originally posted by Relentless
Thanks Spart, though I must admit I have some books on my list I haven't gotten to yet.
But this raises and interesting question. If this type of thing is still going on today, who are the culprits now manipulating world affairs, and exactly where/what are they supporting?
We need to know this, and we need hard proof. The current world agendas have to be exposed.
Originally posted by Relentless
While I am aware of all the info you provided, my point is that it's really hard to "prove" this stuff, and my concern is that while some of it is likely true, a lot of it could be speculation and flat out diversions, it can get kind of convoluted.
But anyway, back on topic, keep your eyes peeled all for more banks being sued by State AG's and what is coming of it.
I think we have 4 - 5 States so far going after Countrywide for their lending practices, which should be interesting due to the fact that they were bought.
The bottom line is, all these "settlements" aren't giving us the whole truth about how deep the problems were/are, since no admission of wrongdoing comes out of a settlement.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Monday he is expanding his investigation into the collapse of the auction-rate securities market to include JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Wachovia Corp.
Last week, Cuomo's office and the Securities and Exchange Commission reached settlements that forced Swiss bank UBS to repurchase $18.6 billion in the securities, while Citigroup agreed to buy back $7 billion of the securities. UBS will also pay a fine of $150 million, while Citigroup will pay a $100 million fine.
"This is an industrywide problem," Cuomo said in an interview. "This is not about one or two institutions. We are now working with the other players in the industry."
NEW YORK - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Thursday he will file suit against Merrill Lynch & Co. over its role in selling auction-rate securities if an agreement is not reached by the end of the day.
Cuomo, who along with other regulators has reached $42 billion worth of settlements with five major Wall Street banks, said talks with the world's largest brokerage were at an impasse.
He said his office had given Merrill a five-day warning that it planned to take legal action; the warning expires Thursday. The attorney general pledged to file suit in New York State Supreme Court by Friday morning.