Opening Bell: 4.22.15

Flash-Crash Trader Sarao Fights Extradition in London Court (Bloomberg)
Sarao, 36, appeared in London court the day after his arrest by British police after being charged in Chicago with 22 criminal counts including fraud and market manipulation. Sarao was responsible for one in five sell orders during the frenzy on May 6, 2010, when investors saw nearly $1 trillion of value erased from U.S. stocks in just minutes, U.S. regulators said on Tuesday. He earned almost $900,000 trading futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index that day and $40 million from 2010 to 2014 buying and selling the contracts, according to the U.S.

Greek cash seen lasting into June, no EU deal imminent (Reuters)
Greece can scrape together enough cash to meet its payment obligations until June, euro zone and Greek officials said on Wednesday, playing down fears of an imminent default as hopes receded of a deal with its creditors to release fresh aid. Sources familiar with European Central Bank policy meanwhile denied a report that the ECB had tightened the screws on Greek banks by slashing the value of the collateral they present to receive emergency funding to keep themselves afloat.

BofA Fined Record $20 Million by U.K. on Reporting Failures (Bloomberg)
Merrill Lynch International, a unit of the U.S. bank, incorrectly reported 35 million transactions and failed to report another 121,387 transactions between November 2007 and November 2014, the Financial Conduct Authority said Wednesday. The bank had been reprimanded on the issue before, receiving a private warning in 2002 and a 150,000-pound fine in 2006, the FCA said.

BNY Mellon Earnings Rise 16% on Higher Fees, Lower Costs (Bloomberg)
Net income rose to $766 million, or 67 cents a share, from $661 million, or 57 cents, a year earlier, the New York-based bank said in a statement today. Analysts had expected earnings of 59 cents a share, according to the average of 14 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Florida Mom Instigated Fight Between Daughter, Rival: Deputies (HP)
A Florida mom is facing various felony charges after allegedly instigating a fight between her 13-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old classmate. Tabitha Anne Bennett, 33, was arrested on Friday and accused of being caught on video encouraging the teens to fight while being armed with a knife, WTSP reports. Bennett allegedly sent a Facebook message on April 12 to the 14-year-old telling her where to meet to fight her daughter, according to the Pasco County Sheriffs Department. When Bennett arrived at the fight scene, investigators said she had a folding knife in her possession. Bennett allegedly told spectators that no one would be allowed to fight except her daughter and her rival, WPTV reports. Cellphone videos taken during the fight show Bennett yelling at her daughter to "kick her ass" and "get on top" of her 14-year-old opponent.

Ex-Goldman programmer doesn’t take the stand as lawyers rest their case (NYP)
Sergey Aleynikov’s defense team wrapped up its case without calling the former Goldman Sachs programmer to the stand. Lawyers rested their case Tuesday after calling just two witnesses, including the founder of the Chicago-based high-speed trading firm that tried to hire Aleynikov away from Goldman in 2009. Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance has accused the Russian-born programmer of stealing the investment bank’s “secret sauce” high-speed trading code.

A Carl Icahn Investment Has Surged 12-Fold In The Last Month (Bloomberg)
Carl Icahn ended last month by buying more shares of a mobile-advertising company that he has backed since 2007. This month, the value of the billionaire’s investment has soared 12-fold.

Investors Turn to Big Real-Estate Funds (WSJ)
Investors are pouring more money into real-estate funds than they have since the property bust, but a few giant fund firms are collecting the lion’s share of the spoils. Pension funds, endowments and other big institutional investors are putting more cash into private-equity firms with large real-estate funds and strong track records, leaving smaller firms to fight over the scraps.

The Legal Odds Are Shifting in the A.I.G. Case (Dealbook)
In 2011, when Mr. Greenberg filed his lawsuit, arguing that the government lifeline, which ultimately totaled $182 billion, had shortchanged A.I.G. shareholders, the case seemed unpromising at best. “Chutzpah,” several lawmakers had called it. Government lawyers described Mr. Greenberg as an “ingrate.” [...] The decision will be up to Judge Thomas Wheeler, who is expected to issue his ruling this summer. Still, even if Mr. Greenberg’s claims for $40 billion are rejected, Mr. Boies will receive credit for turning around a case that had seemed a long shot into one that may be too close call.

Female Goldman banker agrees settlement (FT)
A senior banker at Goldman Sachs who claimed she was cheated out of millions of pounds in bonuses and subjected to sexist comments has reached a confidential settlement with the investment bank — just before her employment case was due to start. Sonia Pereiro-Mendez had claimed she was discriminated against after telling her managers she was pregnant.

Colorado man cited for shooting malfunctioning computer (UPI)
An enraged Colorado man shot his computer multiple times for failing to work properly, according to police. Lucas Hinch, 37, was cited for discharging a firearm within the city limits of Colorado Springs, Colo., on Monday night, police say. After becoming "fed up with fighting his computer for the last several months," Hinch took his central processing unit outside and shot it eight times with a pistol, according to a police report. "He was having technology problems, so he took it out in the back alley and shot it," Lt. Jeff Strossner told the Colorado Springs Gazette.