Say It Ain't So Already

The SEC and Citigroup F**k a US District Court Judge and He’s Pissed

December 29, 2011 at 6:57 PM Leave a comment

I’m making dinner (macaroni and cheeeeeeese!) so this is a quickie:

SEC Chided Again by Judge in Citigroup Fraud Case

(Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission got a fresh dressing-down from the judge who rejected its $285 million settlement with Citigroup Inc, as he said the regulator kept him out of the loop on its efforts to salvage the case.

In his latest sharply-worded order, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff chastised the SEC for not telling him it had filed an emergency request with an appeals court to put the case on hold, after making the same request to him.

So when Rakoff on Tuesday issued a ruling opposing any delay in the case, he was beaten to the punch; 78 seconds earlier, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had granted the SEC the temporary halt it sought.

He also accused the SEC and Citigroup of potentially “misleading” the court, saying they called him around 3:30 p.m. EST (2030 GMT) on Tuesday to discuss the case, without mentioning the filing with the 2nd Circuit.

Less than an hour later, the 2nd Circuit ruled, and so did Rakoff. That 2nd Circuit order negated the work Rakoff said he had done over the weekend to get a ruling to the SEC as quickly as he could.

Rakoff wrote that he “spent the intervening Christmas holiday considering the parties’ positions and drafting an opinion, so that (the court) could file it on December 27, i.e. the first business day after the Christmas holiday.”

To prevent a recurrence, Rakoff ordered the SEC and Citigroup to “promptly notify” him of any filings they make in the appeals court.

Regarding the text in bold, as a former paralegal, I can tell you that’s just dirty, low ball stuff on the SEC’s part.  It’s also known as judge shopping.

And since when does a judge have to issue an order that parties to a case have to “promptly notify” him that they’ve filed a new case?  That’s route and expected.  No wonder he’s furious.

The arrogance of the SEC and Citigroup is indicative of a climate wherein the rich and powerful don’t think they have to follow the rules.

As for the rest of us?  How about 12 years in prison for selling a $31 bag of pot.

Entry filed under: Corporatocracy, Laws / Judiciary, Our Tax Dollars, They Think We're Idiots/We ARE Idiots. Tags: citigroup inc, securities and exchange commission.