Mega-Fines: Global fines for rate-rigging reached $6 billion today, with Deutsche Bank AG and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc among six companies fined a record 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion) by the European Union for rigging interest rates linked to Libor, Bloomberg reports. Zurich-based UBS AG and London-based Barclays Plc weren't fined because they were the first to inform the EU of the cartels.
FCPA Lawyers: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is paying for lawyers to represent more than 30 of its executives involved in a foreign corruption investigation, Reuters reports. "Those numbers suggest DOJ is really digging deep," one legal expert said. "I've never heard of that many potential targets of an investigation no matter how big.”
An Innocent Man: Michael Morton spent nearly 25 years in prison, convicted of killing his wife despite a lack of scientific evidence, eyewitnesses, murder weapon or motive. A group of attorneys, working pro bono on Morton's behalf, managed to bring the truth to light. Not only was Morton innocent, but the prosecutor, Ken Anderson, was accused of withholding crucial evidence, CNN reports.
Asleep at the Switch: An engineer whose speeding commuter train ran off the rails along a curve, killing four people, experienced a hypnotic-like "daze" and nodded at the controls before suddenly realizing something was wrong and hitting the brakes, attorney Jeffrey Chartier said, according to the Associated Press.
Volcker Rule: Five federal agencies plan to approve a tougher-than-expected version of the so-called Volcker Rule next week, according to The New York Times. But the rule, which would ban banks from trading for their own gain and limit their ability to invest in hedge funds, is not yet a done deal.
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