http://financialservices.law360.com/ The Newswire for Legal Professionals Copyright 2009 Portfolio Media, Inc. en-US http://financialservices.law360.com/images/headings/logo.gif http://financialservices.law360.com/ http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135497 A federal judge on Thursday pared down a California couple's breach of contract putative class action claiming Washington Mutual Bank unlawfully stripped them of their access to an established $250,000 home equity line of credit. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135497 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135381 Spanish banking giant Banco Santander SA has asked a federal judge in Florida to toss a class action alleging that it was negligent in investing over $3 billion in Bernard L. Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme, saying that the bank monitored the fraudster as closely as anyone. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135381 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135566 JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the first defendant to reach a settlement in a class action accusing it and other credit card companies of conspiring to force cardholders into arbitration to settle disputes, according to representatives for the plaintiff. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135566 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135512 OppenheimerFunds Inc. has said it will pay $20 million to settle a lawsuit by the state of Oregon, which claimed that the fund’s supposedly conservative 529 program actually made aggressive, risky investments that lost parents money they had been saving to pay for college for their children. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135512 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135382 After letting Bernard Madoff's massive $50 billion Ponzi scheme slip by largely unnoticed, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Inspector General has issued a report that takes a long, hard look at the process currently used to single out investment advisers for investigation and suggests how to repair the fraud detection methods that failed Madoff investors. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135382 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135414 The special receiver for defunct AmeriFirst Funding Inc. is taking a third crack at a negligence suit against the law firm Godwin Ronquillo PC and one of its former partners over their securities law advice. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135414 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135356 A foreign currency trader who swindled investors across the country to fund his lifestyle and buy gifts for girlfriends has been sentenced to more than 24 years in prison and ordered to pay $18 million in restitution. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135356 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135095 JPMorgan Chase & Co. has struck a partial settlement with Affiliated Computer Services Inc. in its patent infringement case over debit card services and check-imaging technology used to process child support payments. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135095 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135298 Looking to correct the economic imbalance between the U.S. and China, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have urged the U.S. Commerce Department to investigate China’s currency manipulation and potentially impose hefty tariffs on U.S. imports from its soaring trading partner. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135298 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135314 Unsecured creditors of mortgage lender Fremont General Corp. have won bankruptcy court approval of the disclosure statement for their Chapter 11 plan, overcoming a late burst of objections from equity holders and banks. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135314 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135261 A Florida tycoon has hurled a raft of corruption allegations at the judge presiding over the receivership of Rothstein Rosenfeldt & Adler PA, the firm facing bankruptcy amid a Ponzi scheme scandal. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135261 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135268 Bankrupt commercial lender CIT Group Inc. has reported a strong showing among various constituencies of creditors in favor of its reorganization proposal, putting the company on a path to win approval for the Chapter 11 plan at a confirmation hearing Dec. 8. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135268 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135288 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Grant Thornton International have agreed to cough up $15 million to settle with a class of Parmalat SpA stockholders in a suit stemming from the Italian dairy giant's collapse. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135288 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135184 Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc. has asked a judge to dismiss a complaint in the multidistrict litigation over auction rate securities, arguing that Community Trust Bank Inc.'s allegation that Merrill Lynch surreptitiously manipulated the ARS market doesn't hold water. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135184 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135177 Real estate investment company FIG Global LLC has accused the executives of international investment banking company Royal Holdings LLC of cheating it out of more than $94.8 million by defaulting on a joint agreement to purchase prestigious resort properties in Portugal. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135177 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135156 Former loan officers who claim that Mortgage World Bankers Inc. saved millions in payroll cost — but ran afoul of federal law — by refusing to pay them minimum wage and a premium overtime rate have asked a judge to certify their suit as a collective action. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135156 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135263 British leaders have proposed a bill that would bolster the power of the country's Financial Services Authority – as well as the general public – to hold banks accountable for irresponsible business practices. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135263 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135133 JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay £1 billion ($1.7 billion) to buy Cazenove Group Ltd. out of its half-stake in the companies' joint venture investment banking operations in the United Kingdom, which would give the financial giant complete ownership of the nearly 200-year-old brokerage. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135133 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135132 The Blackstone Group's Pinnacle Foods Group LLC has reached a definitive agreement to purchase frozen food giant Birds Eye Foods Inc. for $1.3 billion. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135132 http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135158 U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner appeared before a bicameral congressional panel Thursday to underscore the urgency of completing financial regulatory reform, taking heat from several Republican lawmakers calling for his resignation in the wake of alleged bailout missteps. http://financialservices.law360.com/articles/135158