Free Republic

Major U.S. banks masked risk levels: report 8:36am EDT (Reuters) - Major U.S. banks temporarily lowered their debt levels just before reporting in the past five quarters, making it appear their balance sheets were less risky, the Wall Street Journal said, citing data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The paper said on Friday 18 banks, including Goldman Sachs Group , Morgan Stanley , J.P. Morgan Chase Bank of America and Citigroup , understated the debt levels used to fund securities trades by lowering them an average of 42 percent at the end of each period. The banks...

CalPERS plans to extend a management contract with financial services giant State Street Corp., the same firm accused in a lawsuit of defrauding CalPERS and CalSTRS. The one-year extension, announced Tuesday at a meeting of CalPERS' investment committee, brought concern from state Treasurer Bill Lockyer, a fund board member. "My question is whether we ought to be extending business relationships with firms that may have defrauded the state of California," he said in an interview. But the California Public Employees' Retirement System staff said the bidding process on a new contract is so lengthy, the one-year extension became a necessity....