Prior to joining ProPublica, Bernstein worked at The Texas Observer, an investigative biweekly, for six years, and as its executive editor from 2004 to 2008. Bernstein began his career in Central America, where for several years he reported on efforts to end longstanding civil conflicts. He served as a staff writer for the Pasadena [Texas] Citizen and then for the Miami New Times. His work has received numerous state-level and national journalism awards, and The Texas Observer, under his leadership, was named Best Political Magazine of 2005 by Utne Reader. Bernstein is co-author of Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency (2006).
U.S. Century Bank had very high rates of insider loans and other red flags, yet got a $50.2 million TARP loan. Now that taxpayer money may be lost as the bank stumbles under heavy losses.
The bank agrees to pay $590 million to settle claims alleging that Wachovia, acquired by Wells Fargo in 2008, misrepresented its financial health and the quality of its bonds.
News Corp. employees in Britain could be charged in U.S. with bribery if they recorded payments accurately in the company's books and inaccurate accounting if they didn't.
Many other banks created deals with similar characteristics to the transaction that resulted in JPMorgan's $154 million settlement with the government. But the SEC still faces big challenges in wresting more settlements from banks.
A Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission document shows Magnetar selected assets for a billion dollar Merrill Lynch mortgage securities deal, despite having long asserted otherwise.
The builders of mortgage securities at industry giant Merrill Lynch couldn’t find buyers for their wares. So they paid another group at Merrill to take billions of dollars of the unwanted assets.
The SEC is investigating whether JPMorgan adequately disclosed to investors that the hedge fund Magnetar influenced a deal it was also betting against.
A European-based investment fund and a French bank are battling it out in New York state court over complex securities created at the behest of the hedge fund Magnetar
As investors left the market in the run-up to the meltdown, Wall Street created fake demand, increasing their bonuses — and ultimately making the crisis worse.
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