PROFITS INCREASE AT FDIC INSURED INSTITUTIONS

The following is an excerpt from an FDIC e-mail: November 22, 2011 "Commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reported an aggregate profit of $35.3 billion in the third quarter of 2011, an $11.5 billion improvement from the $23.8 billion in net income the industry reported in the third quarter of 2010. This is the ninth consecutive quarter that earnings registered a year-over-year increase. "We continue to see income growth that reflects improving asset quality and lower loss provisions," said FDIC Acting Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg. "U.S. banks have come a long way from the depths of the financial crisis. Bank balance sheets are stronger in a number of ways, and the industry is generally profitable, but the recovery is by no means complete. "Ongoing distress in real estate markets and slow growth in jobs and incomes continue to pose risks to credit quality," Acting Chairman Gruenberg added. "The U.S. economic outlook is also clouded by uncertainties in the global economy and by volatility in financial markets. So even as the banking industry recovers, the FDIC remains vigilant for new economic challenges that could lie ahead." As was the case in each of the last eight quarters, lower provisions for loan losses were responsible for most of the year-over-year improvement in earnings. Third-quarter loss provisions totaled $18.6 billion, almost 50 percent less than the $35.1 billion that insured institutions set aside for losses in the third quarter of 2010. A majority of all institutions (63 percent) reported improvements in quarterly net income from a year ago. Also, the share of institutions reporting net losses for the quarter fell to 14.3 percent, down from 19.5 percent a year earlier. The average return on assets (ROA), a basic yardstick of profitability, rose to 1.03 percent, from 0.72 percent a year ago. Asset quality indicators continued to improve as noncurrent loans and leases (those 90 days or more past due or in nonaccrual status) fell for a sixth consecutive quarter. Insured banks and thrifts charged off $26.7 billion in uncollectible loans during the quarter, down $17.2 billion (39.2 percent) from a year earlier. Financial results for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2011 are contained in the FDIC's latest Quarterly Banking Profile, which was released today. Also among the findings: Loan portfolios grew slowly for a second consecutive quarter. Loan balances posted a quarterly increase for the second quarter in a row and for only the third time in the last 12 quarters. (The first increase, in the first quarter of 2010, reflected the rebooking of securitized loans onto banks' balance sheets as a result of new accounting rules, not an actual increase in lending.) Total loans and leases increased by $21.8 billion (0.3 percent), as loans to commercial and industrial borrowers increased by $44.8 billion and residential mortgage loan balances rose by $23.7 billion. Loans to other depository institutions declined by $37.1 billion (25.3 percent), reflecting the elimination of intra-company loans reported in the second quarter between two related institutions that merged in the third quarter. Large institutions again experienced sizable deposit inflows. Deposits in domestic offices increased by $279.5 billion (3.4 percent) during the quarter. Almost two-thirds of this increase ($183.8 billion or 65.8 percent) consisted of balances in large noninterest-bearing transaction accounts that have temporary unlimited deposit insurance coverage. The 10 largest insured banks accounted for 75.7 percent ($139.1 billion) of the growth in these balances. The number of institutions on the FDIC's "Problem List" fell for the second quarter in a row. The number of "problem" institutions declined from 865 to 844. This is the second time since the third quarter of 2006 that the number of "problem" banks has fallen. Total assets of "problem" institutions declined from $372 billion to $339 billion. Twenty-six insured institutions failed during the third quarter, four more than in the previous quarter, but 15 fewer than in the third quarter of 2010. Through the first nine months of 2011, there were 74 insured institution failures, compared to 127 failures in the same period of 2010. The Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) balance continued to increase. The DIF balance — the net worth of the fund — rose to $7.8 billion at September 30th from $3.9 billion at June 30th. Assessment revenue and fewer expected bank failures continued to drive growth in the fund balance. The contingent loss reserve, which covers the costs of expected failures, fell from $10.3 billion to $7.2 billion during the quarter. Estimated insured deposits grew 3.6 percent in the third quarter. Much of this increase is attributable to the growth in balances exceeding $250,000 in noninterest-bearing transaction accounts, for which the Dodd-Frank Act temporarily extended unlimited insurance coverage through the end of 2012.”

DODD-FRANK ON MINE SAFETY

The following excerpt is from the SEC website:

“Washington, D.C., December 21, 2011 – The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted new rules outlining how mining companies must disclose the mine safety information required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Under Section 1503 of the Dodd-Frank Act, mining companies are required to include information about mine safety and health in the quarterly and annual reports they file with the SEC. The Dodd-Frank Act disclosure requirements are based on the safety and health requirements that apply to mines under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, which is administered by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
The new SEC rules, which take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, specifically require those companies to provide mine-by-mine totals for the following:
Significant and substantial violations of mandatory health or safety standards under section 104 of the Mine Act for which the operator received a citation from MSHA

Orders under section 104(b) of the Mine Act

Citations and orders for unwarrantable failure of the mine operator to comply with section 104(d) of the Mine Act

Flagrant violations under section 110(b)(2) of the Mine Act

Imminent danger orders issued under section 107(a) of the Mine Act

The dollar value of proposed assessments from MSHA

Notices from MSHA of a pattern of violations or potential to have a pattern of violations under section 104(e) of the Mine Act

Pending legal actions before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission

Mining-related fatalities
The accompanying instructions specify that a mining company must report the total penalties assessed in the reporting period, even if the company is contesting an assessment. For legal actions, mining companies are instructed to report the number instituted and resolved during the reporting period, report the number pending on the last day of the reporting period, and categorize the actions based on the type of proceeding.
In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act added a requirement for U.S. companies to file a Form 8-K when they receive notice from MSHA of an imminent danger order under section 107(a) of the Mine Act; notice of a pattern of violations under section 104(e) of the Mine Act, or notice of the potential to have a pattern of such violations. The new SEC rules specify that the Form 8-K must be filed within four business days and include the type of notice received, the date it was received, and the name and location of the mine involved. The new rules specify that a late filing of the Form 8-K will not affect a company's eligibility to use Form S-3 short-form registration.”

SEC CHARGES GE FUNDING CAPITAL MARKETS SERVICES WITH MUNICIPAL BOND MARKET FRAUD

The following excerpt is from the SEC website:

“Washington, D.C., Dec. 23, 2011 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged GE Funding Capital Market Services with securities fraud for participating in a wide-ranging scheme involving the reinvestment of proceeds from the sale of municipal securities.

GE Funding CMS agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by paying approximately $25 million that will be returned to affected municipalities or conduit borrowers. The firm also entered into agreements with the Department of Justice, Internal Revenue Service, and a coalition of 25 state attorneys general and will pay an additional $45.35 million.

The settlements arise from extensive law enforcement investigations into widespread corruption in the municipal reinvestment industry. In the past year, federal and state authorities have reached settlements with four other financial firms, and 18 individuals have been indicted or pled guilty, including three former GE Funding CMS traders.

“Our in-depth investigations have uncovered pervasive corrupt practices in the municipal securities reinvestment market, and we are requiring financial firms one by one to step up and pay the price for their misconduct,” said Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “More than $743 million has been recovered from financial institutions in these settlements, much of which has been returned to municipalities that have been harmed.”

Elaine C. Greenberg, Chief of the SEC’s Enforcement Division’s Municipal Securities and Public Pensions Unit, added, “GE Funding CMS’s fraudulent practices and misrepresentations undermined the competitive bidding process and negatively impacted the prices that municipalities paid for reinvestment products. The firm’s misconduct deprived municipalities of a conclusive presumption that reinvestment instruments were purchased at fair market value.”

According to the SEC’s complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, in addition to fraudulently manipulating bids, GE Funding CMS made improper, undisclosed payments to certain bidding agents in the form of swap fees that were inflated or unearned. These payments were in exchange for the assistance of bidding agents in controlling and manipulating the competitive bidding process.

The SEC alleges that from August 1999 to October 2004, GE Funding CMS illegally generated millions of dollars by fraudulently manipulating at least 328 municipal bond reinvestment transactions in 44 states and Puerto Rico. GE Funding CMS won numerous bids through a practice of “last looks” in which it obtained information regarding competitor bids and either raised a losing bid to a winning bid or reduced its winning bid to a lower amount so that it could make more profit on the transaction. In connection with other bids, GE Funding CMS deliberately submitted non-winning bids to facilitate bids set up in advance by certain bidding agents for other providers to win. GE Funding CMS’s fraudulent conduct also jeopardized the tax-exempt status of billions of dollars in municipal securities because the supposed competitive bidding process that establishes the fair market value of the investment was corrupted.
In settling the SEC’s charges without admitting or denying the allegations, GE Funding CMS agreed to pay a $10.5 million penalty along with disgorgement of $10,625,775 with prejudgment interest of $3,775,987. GE Funding CMS consented to the entry of a final judgment enjoining it from future violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933. The settlement is subject to court approval. The Commission recognizes GE Funding CMS’s cooperation in its investigation.

Other financial institutions charged prior to today’s settlement with GE Funding CMS:
Wachovia Bank N.A. – $148 million settlement with SEC and other federal and state authorities on Dec. 8, 2011.
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC – $228 million settlement with SEC and other federal and state authorities on July 7, 2011.
UBS Financial Services Inc. – $160 million settlement with SEC and other federal and state authorities on May 4, 2011.
Banc of America Securities LLC – $137 million settlement with SEC and other federal and state authorities on Dec. 7, 2010.

The SEC’s investigations have been conducted by Deputy Chief Mark R. Zehner and Assistant Municipal Securities Counsel Denise D. Colliers, who are members of the Municipal Securities and Public Pensions Unit in the Philadelphia Regional Office. The SEC thanks the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their cooperation and assistance in this matter.”

CFTC ORDERS $350,000 CIVIL PENALTY AGAINST MERRILL LYNCH COMMODIITES, INC.

The following excerpt is from the commodity futures trading commission website:

December 7, 2011

"Washington, DC -- The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc. (MLCI) agreed to pay a $350,000 civil monetary penalty to settle CFTC charges that it exceeded speculative position limits in Cotton No. 2 futures contracts in trading on the IntercontinentalExchange U.S. (ICE). MLCI also agreed to cease and desist from further such violations of Section 4a(b)(2) of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).

According to the CFTC order, MLCI held net futures equivalent positions in Cotton No. 2 futures contracts in excess of CFTC speculative position limits on ICE over four consecutive days from January 31, 2011, through February 3, 2011. These MLCI positions exceeded the CFTC’s speculative position limit of 5,000 contracts in all months and 3,500 contracts in any single month in Cotton No.2, the order finds, and violated the CEA’s prohibition against trading in excess of speculative position limits.

Specifically, at the end of the trading day on January 31, 2011, MLCI held a net short position of 5,502 contracts, which was 502 contracts over the all months speculative position limit, according to the order. The following day, on February 1, 2011, MLCI held a net short position of 6,059 contracts, which was 1,059 contracts over the all months speculative limit. MCLI also held a net short position of 3,727 contracts in the March 2011 contract, which was 227 contracts over the single month speculative position limit, the order also finds."

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FORMER CEO AND CFO OF A CLEAN COAL TECH. COMPANY CHARGED WITH MISLEADING INVESTORS

The following excerpt is from the SEC website:

“Washington, D.C., Dec. 21, 2011 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the former CEO and CFO at a Minnesota-based clean coal technology company for making false and misleading statements to investors, and separately charged a network of brokers who sold the company’s securities without being registered with the SEC to do so.

According to the SEC’s complaints filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, Bixby Energy Systems raised at least $43 million from more than 1,800 investors during a nine-year period through a series of purported private placement offerings of stocks, warrants, and promissory notes. The company used this capital raising activity to help fund operations, pay salaries, and pay commissions to brokers that sold Bixby securities.

The SEC alleges that Bixby’s former CEO Robert Walker and former CFO Dennis DeSender made repeated misstatements both verbally and in writing to investors about the company’s core product – a machine that supposedly produced synthetic natural gas through a proprietary clean coal technology. They told investors that Bixby’s coal gasification machine was proven and operating when in fact it had substantial technological defects, did not function properly, and was at risk of self-destruction. Walker and DeSender never disclosed these problems to investors.

“Investors were falsely informed that Bixby’s coal gasification technology was proven, fully functional, and ready for market,” said Merri Jo Gillette, Director of the SEC’s Chicago Regional Office. “Investors who purchased Bixby shares through the unregistered brokers were deprived of the protections afforded under the federal securities laws requiring the registration of broker-dealers and securities offerings like these.”
According to the SEC’s complaint, among the other false and misleading statements or omissions to investors in offering materials or solicitations:

Investors were told that company officers would not be compensated for their sale of Bixby securities. However, Bixby actually paid DeSender at least $3.6 million in cash and warrants related to his sale of Bixby securities. DeSender kicked back more than $600,000 to Walker in an undisclosed and fraudulent commission-sharing scheme.

DeSender was convicted for bank fraud in 1998. However, this was never disclosed to investors in offering materials, which instead touted DeSender’s “25 years of financial consulting and operations management experience” and “extensive background in management and operations.”

Walker and DeSender induced investors to purchase Bixby securities by telling them that Bixby was going to conduct an initial public offering of its shares in the near term, even though they knew that Bixby could not do so.
The SEC further alleges that DeSender and his corporation DLD Financial Ltd. acted as unregistered brokers and that Walker aided and abetted the violations. Walker and DeSender are charged with violations of the securities offering provisions of the Securities Act of 1933.

According to the SEC’s separate complaint against the unregistered brokers, they and DeSender sold more than $21.7 million in Bixby securities to at least 560 investors. As compensation for their sale of Bixby securities, the unregistered brokers and DeSender were paid a total of at least $4.9 million in transaction-based cash commissions. They also received warrants to purchase more than 900,000 shares of Bixby common stock. The SEC alleges that these brokers induced the purchase or sale of securities when they were not registered with the SEC as a broker or dealer or associated with an entity registered with the SEC as a broker or dealer.
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The unregistered brokers are charged with violations of Section 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.”

UNREGISTERED STOCK SALES NETS OVER $1.3 MILLION IN DISGORGEMENT, INTEREST AND CIVIL PEALTY

The following excerpt is from the Securities and Exchange Commission website:

“The United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on December 19, 2011, the Honorable Dora L. Irizarry, United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of New York, entered a judgment against Myron Weiner. The judgment permanently enjoins Weiner from violating the registration provisions of Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) and imposes a one-year penny stock bar against Weiner. The judgment also ordered Weiner to pay $1,215,057 in disgorgement, $80,135 in prejudgment interest, and a $50,000 civil penalty. Weiner consented to the entry of the judgment, without admitting or denying the allegations of the Commission’s complaint. Weiner also settled a related forfeiture action brought by the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
The Commission’s civil action against Myron Weiner, filed on November 22, 2011, relates to his unregistered sales of shares of Spongetech Delivery Systems, Inc. (“Spongetech”) in 2009. In its complaint, the Commission alleges that Weiner purchased the shares from a Spongetech affiliate at a discounted price of 5 cents, and then sold the shares into the public market less than three months later for 20 cents, for a profit of $1,215,057. The Commission alleges that Weiner’s conduct violated the registration provisions of Section 5 of the Securities Act, since his sales were not registered with the Commission, and no exemption from the registration requirements of the federal securities laws applied.
The Commission wishes to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service for their assistance and cooperation in connection with this matter.”