In the United States, LIBOR cases are going through endless "Twiqbal" motions. In the UK, on the other hand, LIBOR cases are being set for trial. And, over there, some are attacking the defenses of the banks (e.g. everybody knew LIBOR was rigged) by pointing to bank CEO’s denying knowledge of the rigging. That point-counterpoint highlights the tensions and conflicts that sometimes exist between a company and its senior officers. Set out below is a key quote from an Irish Time

The litigation industry’s newest player is now in the game. Capital One has just accepted an order from the The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to pay $ 210 million in fines and refunds for fraudulent practices in connection with its credit card business. The violations center around fraudulent practices in connection with sales of useless "insurance" for credit card debt. The full story is in DealBook – some key lines are pasted below." The bank derives about 1/3 of it

The LIBOR litigation is now officially moving into conspiracy claims. Alison Frankel has the story – a key excerpt is below: "That defense won’t fly in the Euribor case because Barclays has already provided regulators with evidence that it worked with other banks to manipulate the rate. The Euribor complaint cited a filing in the CFTC’s case against Barclays, which disclosed a 2007 scheme, coordinated by Barclays senior euro swaps traders and extending to "traders at multiple

Earlier this week, there was a guilty plea from a lower level member of the extended Madoff family. Now Mr. Madoff’s brother Peter is pleading guilty. Now there’s even more reason to wonder what’s ahead in the way of aiding and abetting claims. #Fraud

The wheels continue to grind on whether AIG’s alleged frauds will be fully aired. One new development is that a New York appellate court approved a trial for Hank Greenberg on some of the various fraud claims. Second, Judge Kessler has stayed her ruling granting access to reports of the corporate monitor for AIG – the story is here. As mentioned before, Corporate Counsel and its lawyers previously won a ruling requiring disclosure. #Fraud

More on insurers failing to act in good faith. It’s not surprising to read that QBE and Wells Fargo (as well as other banks and insurers) are under fierce attack for fraudulent practices in connection with forced placed insurance. One article is here in American Banker. LAW360 and others have been covering the story as to QBE specifically since last fall when this opinion was issued. Now, a class action has been certified, as described here (with a link to the opinion). Fraud

Remember when a tobacco company (Liggett) sought to avoid prosecution by turning over its knowledge of wrongful acts by big tobacco? Last year, Schwab sued 11 major banks claiming LIBORrates were fraudulently manipulated fraud. Now, Bloomberg has run a February 15 story regarding Canadian officials looking at LIBOR fraud charges against uber banks, aided apparently by a bank seeking to turn its knowledge into immunity. Here are key excerpts from the Bloomberg’s article: "

The SEC’s whistleblower rules become final on August 12, 2011. The rules to the process are explained here by lawyers from a whistleblower firm known as Katz, Marshall & Banks. #Fraud

With today being a holiday in the US for Dr. King’s birthday, I decided to take a holiday on the usual torts in favor of a little excursis on bankers, litigation and “litigation reform.” The main point? Recent events exemplify why some but not all of the “litigation crises” in the financial sector may be laid squarely at the door of major bankers and financiers.Therefore, one might well conclude that it’s wise to think critically before drinking too much Kool-aid poured from

Barlow Lyde & Gilbert issued this October 7 paper on the “illegality” and “in pari delicto” defenses that auditors and bankers are using to defend themselves against suits by corporate entities that lost monies because of frauds that included the involvement of some personnel of the corporate entities. The paper briefly covers the recent opinion by Judge Kaplan in some of the Parmalat cases and a recent decision from the UK House of Lords. The outcomes are rather stunning bec

The WSJ Law blog includes this post yesterday that illustrates the virtues of e-discovery and the ever-expanding use of tort law in claims between businesses. The post, by Ashby Jones, reports on and includes a link to a Connecticut opinon in which the buyer of cdos sued the seller (UBS) for fradulent concealment of material facts regarding an impending downgrade of the rating for the cdos. The post includes a link to the trial judge’s nicely written opinion granting a motio