Free Republic

Bernard L. Madoff said he never thought the collapse of his Ponzi scheme would cause the sort of destruction that has befallen his family. In his first interview for publication since his arrest in December 2008, Mr. Madoff — looking noticeably thinner and rumpled in khaki prison garb — maintained that family members knew nothing about his crimes. But during a private two-hour interview in a visitor room here on Tuesday, and in earlier e-mail exchanges, he asserted that unidentified banks and hedge funds were somehow “complicit” in his elaborate fraud, an about-face from earlier claims that he was the...

Va. (AP) - Circuit City Stores Inc., the nation's No. 2 consumer electronics retailer, will sell its private-label credit-card business to Bank One Corp. for $1.8 billion in cash. Circuit City said Tuesday that it is shedding the credit-card operation so it can focus on renovating and relocating aging stores, as well as opening new outlets. In November, the retailer sold a bank-card portfolio to FleetBoston Financial for $1.3 billion. The upcoming sale "further simplifies the investment picture for Circuit City shareholders and allows us to focus our attention on the needed improvements in our retail business," said W. Alan...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Inc. has agreed to buy Bank One Corp. for about $60 billion, the Wall Street Journal's online edition said on Wednesday. Citing a person familiar with the matter, the Journal reported that the purchase is expected to be announced later on Wednesday. J.P. Morgan spokeswoman Kristin Lemkau and Bank One spokesman Tom Kelly both declined to comment. A merger would preserve J.P. Morgan's position as the No. 2 U.S. bank by assets, behind Citigroup Inc.. No. 3 Bank of America Corp.'s pending purchase of FleetBoston Financial Corp. would vault that combination...

Firefighters and ambulances responded to a five-alarm fire that appeared to trap some people in the 22-story Bank One building in downtown Milwaukee shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday. The fire was initially reported on the 14th floor of the building, at 111 E. Wisconsin Ave. Some witnesses reported smoke pouring from some of the broken out windows soon after the fire was reported. By about 2:30 p.m., firefighters could be seen on the roof of the building, and bringing hoses inside from the ground level, but no smoke was showing.

A coalition including Citibank, Bank One, and 33 other banks—banded together as the New Alliance Task Force—are rolling out a model loan program meant to bring undocumented Chicago immigrants into the mortgage mainstream. A few lending pioneers already provide home financing to immigrants with no Social Security numbers, and the task force's hotly debated plan provides guidance to other banks that are interested in following this lead. Without Social Security identification, banks can quantify applicants' credit risk by contacting employers, landlords, and utilities; but the greater risk of extending credit to these borrowers is reflected by a higher interest rate....

Companies Rated on Their GLBT Policies Tuesday, August 26, 2003 Twenty-one companies received a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign for their treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees and consumers, almost doubling the number of companies with the same distinction last year. "What we see this year is improvement in every category measured, from written nondiscrimination policies to domestic partner health insurance benefits and beyond. Corporate America continues to be a leader in the quest for GLBT civil rights," says HRC Education Director Kim I. Mills, who oversees HRC WorkNet, the organization's workplace project. "The bottom...

Some of the country's biggest corporations, concerned about their ability to recruit women and minority applicants, are supporting the University of Michigan in its court battle to preserve affirmative action in opposition to the Bush administration. Dozens of companies, including 3M, Microsoft, Bank One, Steelcase, PepsiCo and Exelon, plan to tell the Supreme Court that universities should be allowed to consider race as a factor in admissions. In the lower court cases against the university, more than 30 companies argued that diversity in college was essential because future employees need the experience of working with people from different backgrounds. Though...