REFinBlog

Editor: David Reiss
Brooklyn Law School

June 12, 2018

Court Limits NY Attorney General’s Reach

By David Reiss

Bloomberg quoted me in Credit Suisse Wins Narrowing of $11 Billion Suit, Martin Act. It opens, New York’s powerful anti-fraud weapon known as the Martin Act was crimped by the state’s highest court, which scaled back what was an $11 billion … Continue reading

March 7, 2018

Ghost of A Crisis Past

By David Reiss

The Royal Bank of Scotland settled an investigation brought by New York Attorney General Schneiderman arising from mortgage-backed securities it issued in the run up to the financial crisis. RBS will pay a half a billion dollars. That’s a lot … Continue reading

March 7, 2017

Is $321 Billion The Right Amount?

By David Reiss

The Boston Consulting Group has released its Global Risk 2017 report, Staying the Course in Banking. Buried in the report is Boston Consulting’s calculation of the amount of penalties paid by banks since the financial crisis:  $321,000,000,000. The report states, … Continue reading

May 24, 2016

FIRREA Blanks

By David Reiss

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the District Court’s judgment (SDNY, Rakoff, J.) against Bank of America defendants for actions arising from Countrywide’s infamous “Hustle” mortgage origination program. The case has a lot of interesting aspects to it, … Continue reading

April 18, 2016

Goldman’s $5B Mortgage Settlement: If They Only Knew

By David Reiss

The news reports about Goldman’s $5 billion settlement over its boom-time securitization practices have focused on whether Goldman would really have to pay all $5 billion at the end of the day. It is important to focus on the size … Continue reading

March 14, 2016

Final Accounting for National Mortgage Settlement

By David Reiss

Joseph Smith, the Monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement, has issued his Final Compliance Update. He writes, I have filed a set of five compliance reports with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia as Monitor of the … Continue reading

February 1, 2016

Rigged Justice

By David Reiss

The Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren has released Rigged Justice: 2016 How Weak Enforcement Lets Corporate Offenders Off Easy. The Executive Summary states, When government regulators and prosecutors fail to pursue big corporations or their executives who violate the law, … Continue reading