US And New York Sue BNY Mellon (WSJ)
The Justice Department and New York’s attorney general filed separate civil lawsuits alleging that the bank fraudulently charged clients for currency transactions. Filed within hours of each other late Tuesday, the suits allege that BNY Mellon defrauded or misled state and public pension funds, private companies, universities and banks in a decade-long scheme of overcharging for foreign exchange. The move by the U.S. attorney in Manhattan is the first time federal prosecutors have filed a legal action in the mushrooming currency case, though it wasn’t a criminal complaint—something no major U.S. bank has ever survived.

At S&P, A Crusader For Tough Ratings (WSJ)
Under Mr. Adelson’s guidance, S&P has made it more difficult for many issuers to receive Triple-A ratings, its coveted highest score. The top rating should be “sacrosanct,” Mr. Adelson has told colleagues, adding it should be tested as rigorously “as jet engines on an airplane.” S&P downgraded nearly 17% of its Triple-A-rated structured finance securities in 2010. That’s almost double the amount downgraded by Fitch Ratings and nearly triple the amount downgraded by Moody’s Investors Service during the same period, though each firm’s ratings express slightly different measurements of a bond’s safety. Among sovereign government bonds that are rated by both S&P and Moody’s as of September, S&P had lower ratings in 25 cases, and Moody’s in 21.

Announced US Job Cuts Rise 212% In Year (Bloomberg)
Announced firings jumped 212 percent, the largest increase since January 2009, to 115,730 last month from 37,151 in September 2010, according to Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Cuts in government employment, led by the Army’s five-year troop reduction plan, and at Bank of America accounted for almost 70 percent of the announcements. While the bulk of firings are not “directly related” to economic weakness, they “could definitely be a sign of more cuts to come,” John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement. “Bank of America is not the only bank still struggling in the wake of the housing collapse, and the military cutbacks are probably just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to federal spending cuts.”

Obama Prods Cantor To Get House Jobs Vote (Bloomberg)
“I mean, what’s the problem?” Obama said yesterday at a Texas rally to boost the economy and reduce unemployment for everyone from teachers to construction workers. “Do they not have the time? They just had a week off! I — is it inconvenient?”

On Way To Wall Street, Confronting A Protest (BusinessWeek)
On Sunday, Jennifer Berg, a former senior executive at the investment banks Morgan Stanley and UBS, boarded a subway heading downtown and took a seat across from three protesters holding signs. “American Spring,” one sign proclaimed. “Down with Wall Street,” read another. The veteran Wall Streeter figured she might as well introduce herself. “I just said what exactly are you protesting?” One of the protesters told her he was upset with the marketing of subprime mortgages. Berg countered by asking if homebuyers who took on too much debt shouldn’t share some of the responsibility. Another explained that she wanted more control over the economy. Berg said she told them that if they tried to close down Wall Street, it would choke the flow of money that sustains the world economy. “We had a really decent chat. These guys were disgruntled. I think they were unemployed. They felt like they were making a difference,” Berg says. “They listened to what I had to say and then they shook my hand. They said it was a great pleasure to have this conversation.” Continue reading »