Bad Deal.

A judge slams a settlement between Washington and Wall Street

When U.S. district judge Jed Rakoff rejected a $285 million settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Citigroup on Nov. 28, he effectively marched out of the federal courthouse on Foley Square and took his place as the most powerful protester in Zuccotti Park. In a blunt court order, Rakoff broke with decades of judicial deference to the feds and suggested that regulators were enabling Wall Street's efforts to hide allegedly "knowing and fraudulent" acts from the public. While the decision's long-term effects depend on the case's future in the courts, it could immediately impose new standards of accountability and...

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