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Larry Hagman, the actor who played the villainous J.R. Ewing in 1980s TV show “Dallas,” became a victim of fraud and misconduct at the hands of Citigroup Inc., a FINRA arbitration panel ruled this week.
The total award includes $10 million in punitive damages that Citi must pay to charities selected by Hagman, $1.1 million in compensatory damages and nearly $440,000 in legal fees. Get the full story »
The Federal Reserve said Thursday that it issued an order against HSBC North American Holdings Inc. requiring the bank to improve company-wide risk management, including practices to prevent money laundering.
It said that within 30 days, the bank’s board must submit a plan for strengthening oversight of its compliance risk-management program. The plan must show how risk is being managed within and across business lines, legal entities and jurisdictions in which the bank operates. Get the full story »
The European Central Bank will face scrutiny on Thursday over its response to a growing global battle over currencies and a spike in market interest rates after it held interest rates at a record low 1.0 percent.
The rate decision came as no surprise as all 79 economists in a Reuters poll had predicted the ECB would leave rates on hold for the 17th month in a row. The median forecast is for no change until the fourth quarter of next year. Get the full story »
At least 531 Illinois homeowners will be offered mortgage loan modifications by Wells Fargo Bank after an investigation into allegedly deceptive marketing of payment option adjustable rate mortgages.
Illinois and seven other states investigated Wachovia and Golden West’s marketing of pay-option ARMs, potentially risky loan products because they allow borrowers to pay only a minimum payment, with the rest of the funds due added to the balance of the loan, which eventually resets at much higher required payments. Wells Fargo owns Wachovia and Golden West. Get the full story »
The U.S. Federal Reserve should do “much more” monetary easing to spur a sluggish economic recovery, a top Fed official said in an interview published Tuesday.
“In the last several months I’ve stared at our unemployment forecast and come to the conclusion that it’s just not coming down nearly as quickly as it should,” Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans told the Wall Street Journal. Get the full story »
A few weeks after Chase had major technical issues with its online banking site, many of its users reported Tuesday that they were unable to log into the Web site. A Chase spokesman said that the site went down around 11:30 a.m. for several minutes, but is now back up.
Risks to financial stability remain elevated due to a combination of slow global growth, high sovereign debt burdens and continuing weakness in the banking sector, the International Monetary Fund warned in a report released Tuesday.
In a report published during its annual meetings in Washington, the IMF highlighted persistent risks to the banking system from high debt levels in mature economies and resulting tensions on sovereign bond markets, particularly in Europe. Get the full story »
The Street | Saying U.S. assets are attractive to Swiss banks, Rochdale analyst Richard Bove says Credit Suisse should buy Northern Trust. He cites the Chicago institution’s cash balance and inability to “withstand a takeover bid.”
Amid growing public anger over U.S. home seizures, Bank of America Corp has suspended some of its foreclosures and JPMorgan Chase & Co has come under investigation in California and Connecticut. Get the full story »
A group of investors wants to invest about $10 million into Maywood-based First Suburban National Bank, and if it’s successful it wants to cater to Russian and Eastern European Jewish customers in the area, according to documents filed with the Federal Reserve. Get the full story »
Fabrice Tourre, a central figure in a controversial Goldman Sachs transaction, asked a judge to throw out a U.S. regulator’s fraud lawsuit against him, 2-1/2 months after the bank settled its part of the case for $550 million. Get the full story »
U.S. regulators will put up a united front before a divided Congress on Thursday, promising to cooperate on hundreds of new rules aimed at preventing Wall Street excesses from triggering another financial crisis. Get the full story »
American International Group is close to finalizing a plan for the U.S. government to sell its stake in the insurer and is hoping it will yield a profit for taxpayers who bailed out the company, Chairman Steve Miller said on Wednesday. Get the full story »
Private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC has struck its third deal in the past year to buy a Chicago-area company.
The Chicago-based buyout firm plans to acquire a majority stake in Fieldglass Inc., a software provider that helps such companies as Johnson & Johnson, American Airlines and GlaxoSmithKline manage their contract and temporary workforces. The deal values Fieldglass at more than $220 million.
It’s the fifth purchase that Madison Dearborn has made with its sixth fund, which raised $4 billion from universities, pension funds and other institutional investors. Get the full story »
