Unfortunately this move -to-trial judicial decision will be appealed, but its a good start.
From the New York Times/Edward Wyatt, 11/28/11. "WASHINGTON — Taking a broad swipe at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s
practice of allowing companies to settle cases without admitting that
they had done anything wrong, a federal judge on Monday rejected a $285
million settlement between Citigroup and the agency.....
The agency in particular (the SEC), Judge Rakoff argued, “has a duty, inherent in
its statutory mission, to see that the truth emerges.” But it is
difficult to tell what the agency is getting from this settlement “other
than a quick headline.” Even a $285 million settlement, he said, “is
pocket change to any entity as large as Citigroup,” and often viewed by
Wall Street firms “as a cost of doing business.” According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Citigroup stuffed a
$1 billion mortgage fund that it sold to investors in 2007 with
securities that it believed would fail so that it could bet against its
customers and profit when values declined. The fraud, the agency said,
was in Citigroup’s falsely telling investors that an independent party
was choosing the portfolio’s investments. Citigroup made $160 million
from the deal and investors lost $700 million." Full article.
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