Aurelia Butler

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed most of a lawsuit where Germany’s Commerzbank (ETR:CBKG) sought to hold Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK) liable for more than $1 billion of losses on toxic mortgages purchased before the 2008 global financial crisis.U.S. District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan rejected Commerzbank’s claims on all but 13 of the 100 certificates and notes it bought, and dismissed all negligence claims against BNY Mellon, which had been serving as trustee.The securities had been issued from 72 residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) trusts and a collateralized debt obligation that had been backed by home loans from Countrywide, NovaStar and other lenders.Dave Wollmuth, a lawyer for Commerzbank, declined to comment. A lawyer for BNY Mellon also declined to comment.Investors suffered huge losses before, during and after the financial crisis on RMBS they once thought safe, prompting a slew of litigation against lenders, servicers and trustees over more than a decade.Trustees handle back-office work after securities are sold, and ensure that investors receive payments.They have long said their contracts shielded them from liability for RMBS losses, and that particularly sophisticated investors should have known the risks.In its December 2015 complaint, Commerzbank accused BNY Mellon of sitting “idly” as losses piled up, rather than force lenders to buy back and servicers to address troubled loans.Daniels, however, said Commerzbank lacked standing to sue over 76 securities because it sold them before suing, and waited too long under German law to sue over 11 other certificates.He also said recent rulings including a June decision by New York state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, required dismissal of Commerzbank’s negligence claims because they essentially duplicated its breach-of-contract claims.The surviving claims cover 13 certificates that Commerzbank bought from Barrington II CDO Ltd, but only as to whether BNY Mellon acted as a “prudent person” following borrower defaults.The case is Commerzbank AG (OTC:CRZBY) v. The Bank of New York Mellon et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 15-10029. More

The EU rules, called the Stability and Growth Pact, have been suspended since 2020 to help governments deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and then the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting increase in energy and food prices.They are due to be reimplemented in 2024 and the EU is working against the clock to establish a new rule book acceptable to all member states, with Italy favouring a more lenient approach than some northern European governments.Giorgetti told reporters a deal was probably out of reach by the end-year deadline, something the European Commission was now coming to terms with.He said the EU executive had already drawn up “a sort of guidance in the event the we don’t manage to approve a new Pact by the end of the year, which is perhaps the most likely outcome.”Italy is preparing a difficult 2024 budget in which it will seek to meet Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s tax cutting promises while at the same time reducing the deficit while faced with an economic slowdown.Meloni on Monday appealed to ministers to “avoid waste” as they make their requests before the budget is presented to parliament in October.Giorgetti said the situation was challenging but the government would “try” to meet its current commitments on deficit and debt reduction. More

The companies signed up for new loans, leases, and lines of credit worth $9.9 billion last month, compared with $10.1 billion a year earlier, the industry body’s survey said.”In the current relatively high-interest rate environment in which the industry finds itself this summer, survey respondents are reporting some softness, coinciding with expectations by economists that overall investment in equipment and software will slow down in the second half of 2023,” ELFA Chief Executive Ralph Petta said.ELFA, which reports economic activity for the nearly $1-trillion equipment finance sector, said credit approvals totaled 75.3%, down from 76.1% in June.Washington-based ELFA’s leasing and finance index measures the volume of commercial equipment financed in the United States.The index is based on a survey of 25 members, including Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) and financing affiliates or units of Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) Inc, Siemens AG (OTC:SIEGY), Canon Inc and Volvo AB (OTC:VLVLY).”Rising interest rate environments will slow consumer spending. Cheap money notes that begin to expire will be replaced by more expensive money, and new investments will be reduced,” said Craig Ault, Honour Capital’s chief revenue officer.The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, ELFA’s non-profit affiliate, said its confidence index in August stood at 50.4, an increase from 46.4 in July. A reading above 50 indicates a positive business outlook. More

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on Monday said it has formally launched a search for a new leader to replace James Bullard, the longest-serving central bank official and a closely watched voice on monetary and economic policy. Bullard unexpectedly announced his resignation in July. He officially left on Aug. 14 to become a business school dean at Purdue University. Jim McKelvey, who is the chairman of the St. Louis Fed Board of Directors and leader of the search committee, said in a press release the effort to find a replacement for Bullard “will be robust, transparent, fair and inclusive”. The bank said Spencer Stuart, an executive search firm, will look for a new leaderin a process overseen by the bank’s board members, who do not hail from financial firms regulated by the Fed. The Fed has 12 regional bank arms that are quasi-private entities and operate under the oversight of the board of governors in Washington. Each bank is also overseen by boards of directors who hail from the private sector. Regional Fed bank presidents help to set central bank interest rate policy and gather economic and financial information in their respective districts, while also helping to regulate local banks. Regional Fed banks have faced pressure in recent years to include more diversity in their leadership ranks. More

“Rising interest rates, credit tightening and new vehicle pricing levels slowly decelerating remain pressure points for consumers,” said Chris Hopson, principal analyst at S&P Global Mobility.New light vehicle sales in August are estimated to be 1.34 million units, up 18% year-over-year, according to the report. The automotive research company also lowered its annual forecast to 15.2 million units of new light vehicles estimated to be sold in the U.S. from sales of 15.7 million units projected in July.Supply of vehicles could be disrupted in North America as negotiations with labor unions have been heated up lately, the report added.”The greatest threat to the forecast in the near-term surrounds the union negotiations between the United Auto Workers in the US and Unifor in Canada with their respective contracts set to expire in mid-September 2023,” said Joe Langley, associate director at S&P Global Mobility.UAW on Friday said members voted overwhelmingly in favor of authorizing a strike at the Detroit Three automakers if an agreement is not reached before the current four-year contract expires on Sept. 14. More