Hackers who hit JPMorgan attacked some 9 other firms – report

(Reuters) – About nine other banks and brokerages were infiltrated by the same group of hackers who recently attacked computer systems at JPMorgan Chase & Co, the New York Times reported late on Friday, citing unnamed people briefed on the matter.

The report, which could not be independently verified and did not identify any of the victims beyond JPMorgan, said it was not clear how serious the attacks had been.

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Primer for the Goldman Sachs secret tapes

By Elizabeth Warren

|    OCTOBER 03, 2014

This piece will be featured in the Oct. 5 print edition of The Boston Globe.

THE FEDERAL Reserve Bank of New York is responsible for regulating the nation’s biggest banks. But new secret audio tapes indicate the banks — not the Fed — are in charge. Congress can keep making the rules tougher and tougher, but it won’t make an ounce of difference if the regulators won’t enforce those rules. Below is a primer to explain what’s going on.

Wall Street Journal, ‘N.Y. Fed Staff Afraid to Speak Up, Secret Review Found’ by Pedro Nicolaci Da Costa

“The Federal Reserve Bank of New York commissioned a secret internal investigation of itself in 2009, uncovering a culture of suppression that discouraged regulatory staffers from voicing worries about the banks they supervised.

“The review found a highly bureaucratic structure that discouraged staffers from offering their honest opinions. The report called for “a sustained effort to overcome excessive risk-aversion and get people to speak up when they have concerns, disagreements or useful ideas.”

Read more.

This American Life, ‘The Secret Recordings of Carmen Segarra’

“One of the people the Fed hired was a lawyer named Carmen Segarra. And whether they meant to or not, with Carmen Segarra, they got the kind of employee Beim said they needed — confident, independent-minded . . . But what Segarra witnessed going on at the Fed was so alarming, she started secretly making recordings of what she experienced as a bank examiner . . . [On January 6, 2012] an e-mail came in that Goldman wanted to notify the Fed about a fast-moving negotiation between it and a large Spanish bank, Banco Santander . . . To be clear, the deal appeared to be perfectly legal . . . But take the issue in the Santander deal that was most important to [top Fed official] Mike Silva — the question of whether Goldman should be doing these new kinds of deals — deals whose whole purpose was to make foreign banks look better to the regulators. As months past, you could hear on Carmen’s recordings the [Fed] team debating what to do about it — what action they should take. As best as we can tell, the most forceful action they consider is a letter to Goldman — and not even a stern letter necessarily.”

Read more.

Read on.

Deutsche Bank Manager Sues Over Firing for Sexual Remarks

A Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) executive, fired over allegations he sexually harassed female colleagues, said in a lawsuit that he was the one who suffered discrimination.

Konrad Joy, the chief operating officer in the global risk department before being fired in 2013, told a London employment tribunal that the bank accepted accusations against him that were false or exaggerated without a proper investigation.

“The conduct of those involved in the process amounted to harassment,” Joy, a Deutsche Bank employee for 24 years, said in a witness statement. “I do not believe a female managing director in my position would have been dealt with in this biased and prejudiced way.”

Joy, who is suing for gender discrimination, is seeking his job back and compensation of more than 20 million pounds ($32 million), Deutsche Bank said in court documents. That makes it one of the largest U.K. employment tribunal claims in recent years. Damages in employment cases are normally capped at about 70,000 pounds, unless there is evidence of discrimination based on race, religion or gender.

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Citigroup To Disclose Internal Records Following $430 Million Loan Fraud

Citigroup’s Mexican unit, Banamex, has been charged by the Delaware Court for fraudulently issuing risky loansamounting to $430 million

Citigroup Inc (C) will provide relevant documents to one of its shareholders, Oklahoma Firefighters Pension Fund, which is suing the bank for fraudulent loansworth $430 million issued by one of its units, Banco Nacional de Mexico SA (BANAMEX). A majority of these loans were issued to a Mexican oil company, Oceanografia.

Read on.

Update: Citigroup Banamex CEO bails from his job. Read here.

Wells Fargo to pay $295K after firing Spanish speaking worker

MINNEAPOLIS –

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Wednesday that the agency determined Wells Fargo retaliated against a Hispanic woman who complained she was being treated differently for speaking Spanish.

According to the federal agency, the Minneapolis employee will receive $295,000 from Wells Fargo to resolve the claim that she was fired unfairly. The EEOC said the woman’s supervisor told her not to speak Spanish during her non-duty time, and an investigation of her claim showed Wells Fargo disciplined and fired her for doing things other employees did without reprimand.

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Bank of America is accused of racial discrimination in Cleveland in black, Latino neighborhoods

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Bank of America discriminates against minorities in Cleveland by neglecting foreclosed homes it owns in black and Latino neighborhoods while taking good care of foreclosed homes in white neighborhoods, the National Fair Housing Alliance said Tuesday.

The NFHA said it’s expanding its 2-year-old complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to include Cleveland, Kansas City, New Orleans and Vallejo, Calif.

In a news conference Tuesday, NFHA said the nation’s second-largest bank practices housing discrimination by allowing foreclosed homes in black and Latino neighborhoods to decline while attending to homes in white neighborhoods, in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act.

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Bank of America accused of trying to evict homeowner current on payments

A Hamshire man alleges his mortgage lender is trying to evict him after agreeing to allow him to bring the account current and maintain the loan.

Travis Stark filed a lawsuit against Bank of America Aug. 22 in Jefferson County District Court.

According to the complaint, Stark purchased property in the 13000 block of West Road with a loan financed through Bank of America. Stark says he fell behind on his payments. On May 30, Stark says the lender told him that if he could pay the $13,000 owed by June 12, it would reinstate the promissory note. Stark alleges he sent the full payment overnight to Bank of America on June 10. He says the lender accepted and processed the check.

Despite making the full payment, Stark says he received an eviction notice Aug. 13.

Stark contends his property already went to foreclosure May 6, three weeks before Bank of America agreed to reinstate the mortgage. He says he also learned Carrington Mortgage Services had taken over as servicer of the loan Aug. 1.

The defendant is accused of breach of contract, misrepresentation and deceptive trade practices for allegedly foreclosing on Stark’s house months before accepting $13,000 to reinstate the original loan and then attempting to evict him.

Read on.