Sec, Banks | featured news

The Securities and Exchange Commission has brought civil fraud charges against six former top executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying they misled the government and taxpayers about risky subprime mortgages the mortgage giants held during the housing bust....

A federal judge on Monday struck down a $285 million settlement that Citigroup reached with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying he couldn't tell whether the deal was fair and criticizing regulators for shielding the public from the details of what the firm did wrong.

Federal regulators charged a Citigroup unit with negligence Wednesday, saying it misled investors about an investment product it used to bet against them as the housing market deteriorated. Citigroup agreed to pay a settlement of $285 million, which will be distributed to investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

In a civil suit filed Friday, the S.E.C. accused the investment bank of securities fraud over a deal in which Goldman profited from bets against products it sold to customers.

American International Group Inc's former Chief Executive Hank Greenberg agreed to pay $15 million to settle regulators' allegations of improper accounting transactions, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges Monday against Bank of America for misleading investors about billions of dollars in bonuses paid to top executives at Merrill Lynch following its purchase of the brokerage giant.

Bank of America and other big institutions plan to enforce a cutoff, making it harder to cash vouchers. To protect IOU holders from third-party speculators, the SEC defines the vouchers as securities.

The former chief, Angelo R. Mozilo, is the highest-profile person to face charges in the wake of the financial crisis.

SEC says Texas banker swindled billions selling CDs with improbable interest rates.