TIME LINE | BP’S LAWSUITS December 16, 2010 US Justice Department: $21bn The US government announced on Wednesday that it will sue nine firms involved in the blast for breaching environmental laws, in order to recoup costs and damages. Compensation fund: $2.3bn BP’s compensation fund has made $2bn in emergency payments to 125,000 claimants, said fund administrator Kenneth Feinberg at the end of [...]
Banks face $200bn US subprime suit September 4, 2011 LENDERS were dealt a heavy blow on Friday as a US federal agency filed 17 lawsuits against banks for allegedly mis-selling securities based on mortgages in the run-up to the financial crisis. Shares in Bank of America, the worst-hit, tumbled more than eight per cent on the news. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees [...]
Strauss-Kahn sex case to be dropped today August 22, 2011 FORMER IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn is almost certain to walk free today after New York prosecutors lost faith in the sex charges against him and recommended the case be dismissed. The one-time favourite to beat Nicolas Sarkozy in next year’s French presidential election could fly home as soon as this evening, barring a dramatic eleventh-hour [...]
Nokia to take a thin slice out of Apple’s pie June 14, 2011 APPLE has settled an ongoing patent row with troubled phone maker Nokia, with analysts speculating that Steve Jobs’ firm could part with up to two per cent of the price of each iPhone it sells. The terms of the settlement will see Apple pay a one-off sum as well as contributing ongoing royalty fees. Details [...]
Former bookkeeper loses her unfair dismissal case against hedgie tycoon July 26, 2011 HEDGE fund tycoon Elena Ambrosiadou has won an unfair dismissal claim brought by her former bookkeeper in the latest twist in a scandal over alleged snooping on former employees of hedge fund Ikos. Nathalie Pratico, the ex-bookkeeper, had filed a claim for €5m (£4.4m), alleging she was fired from Ambrosiadou’s family accounting firm after being [...]
Former bookkeeper loses her unfair dismissal case against hedgie tycoon July 26, 2011 HEDGE fund tycoon Elena Ambrosiadou has won an unfair dismissal claim brought by her former bookkeeper in the latest twist in a scandal over alleged snooping on former employees of hedge fund Ikos. Nathalie Pratico, the ex-bookkeeper, had filed a claim for €5m (£4.4m), alleging she was fired from Ambrosiadou’s family accounting firm after being [...]
RWE rails against nuclear tax June 22, 2011 Germany’s largest power producer RWE filed a lawsuit against the German government over its nuclear fuel tax, it said yesterday. RWE said it had filed a complaint at the tax court in Munich, regarding a tax imposed on its nuclear reactor in south Germany. The complaint related to a change in fuel rods at one [...]
Eurozone learnt nothing from 2008 September 5, 2011 FOR anybody with ears to hear it, the message yesterday from Deutsche Bank’s boss was chilling. Many Eurozone banks would go bust if they were forced to accept a “haircut” to fully reflect current market valuations on their sovereign debt holdings, Josef Ackermann, Deutsche Bank’s chief executive warned. He was speaking at Frankfurt’s annual Banks [...]
EMI reaches a five-year deal with Pink Floyd after lawsuit January 4, 2011 PINK Floyd has agreed to a five-year deal with record label EMI, following a year of legal disputes. The British rock group took EMI to court last year in an effort to protect its albums, with a high court judge ruling that the label could not sell individual songs without consent. However, yesterday’s deal with [...]
How Washington created sub-prime September 4, 2011 AMERICANS love lawsuits. It’s the way they do business. But the news that the authorities supervising the US housing agencies are suing 17 banks over the sub-prime crisis was unintentionally hilarious. To see why, recall that the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (Freddie Mac) – government sponsored [...]