Law and legal issues

The New York State Supreme Court has ruled that Sound Point is within its rights to enforce a 90-day noncompete agreement with a manager who joined GoldenTree two weeks after his resignation.

The $455 million in bonds issued by the company just two months ago have sold off sharply, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency, which is trying to reassure investors.

With ruling in GSE case, the two agencies are emerging as the test subjects for a legal showdown over their authority.

A federal appeals court in Texas agreed with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders that the FHFA, led by a single director, violates the separation of powers.

A more conservative court will be likelier to rule favorably on issues ranging from the deference for regulatory agencies to what constitutes a fair-lending violation.

American Express prevailed Monday in an eight-year antitrust battle with the government. Here’s a look at how other card networks, banks, retailers and consumers will be affected.

The El Segundo, Calif. company is selling $100 million of bonds backed by a revolving pool of loans secured by precious metals as well as some of its own inventory of cash and gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.

While the result is anticlimactic, the court’s observations are more interesting; they tend to reinforce doubts about the usefulness of this alternative bankruptcy proofing mechanism.

Auto lenders would be well advised to keep up their guard as states — particularly blue ones — take steps of their own to crack down on what they see as abusive practices.

The class-action lawsuit filed by investors alleged that bank executives deliberately failed to disclose the full nature of its cross-selling practices to shareholders.

The Federal Trade Commission alleges in a lawsuit that the company's "no-hidden-fee" pledge is deceptive. LendingClub says the claims are unwarranted.

A class action filed last week alleges that Renovate America and Renew Financial failed to provide consumer protections promised to L.A. County, that this constitutes elder abuse, and the county is complicit.

"Golden" shares with veto power over bankruptcy filings are commonly used as a backup measure for special purpose vehicles, but there are several issues to be addressed as case law develops.

The subprime auto lender paid $2.9 million to Connecticut consumers and a $100,000 fine for miscalculating balances owed on repossessed cars and for charging improper fees. It says the settlement is part of an effort to clean up "legacy issues."

The Supreme Court dealt hedge funds and other big investors a blow Tuesday by refusing to revive core parts of lawsuits that challenged the federal government’s capture of billions of dollars in profits generated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

A federal appeals court handed a major victory — and a significant defeat — to the CFPB by upholding its constitutional structure while also slapping down the agency's practice of making new interpretations of law through enforcement actions.

The decision by the appeals court means that a president can only fire the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for cause. But the ruling also scrapped the CFPB's massive fine against a nonbank mortgage lender.

In a blow to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal judge rejected the agency's request for over $280 million in penalties against the California lender CashCall, ruling that the lender's violations did not justify such a large fine.

The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a case challenging the appointment of administrative law judges, which could impact a ruling on the constitutionality of the CFPB.

After a significant setback this week in the legal bid to unseat Mick Mulvaney as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, consumer groups are pinning their hopes on a second case they hope will provide a different result.