New York News

Investor lawsuits against the credit rating agencies have, for the most part, failed to gain traction with judges in the wake of the financial crisis. One notable exception has been in class action litigation on behalf of purchasers of notes issued by two structured investment vehicles that tanked after the subprime mortgage meltdown. The investors in one of the cases survived another crucial hurdle last week, though their lawyers at Robbins Geller Rudman Dowd still have their work cut out for them.

A New York state judge has signaled a willingness to throw out a lawsuit over millions of dollars in losses on mortgage debt if the main plaintiffs bought the debt solely to recoup litigation fees.

Britain's Standard Chartered bank agreed Tuesday to settle charges by the New York Department of Financial Services that it had helped Iran evade financial sanctions. The bank is paying a cool $340 million, but no one should believe that this makes New York banking regulator Benjamin Lawsky some kind of superhero.