花旗将向投资者赔付5.90亿美元

    花旗（Citigroup）又一笔金融危机期间的旧账也达成了和解。

    花旗将向在本轮金融危机前购买该行股票的投资者支付5.90亿美元，了结一宗指控花旗管理层在2007年和2008年就该行经营健康状况误导投资者的集体诉讼。2008年底花旗根据问题资产救助计划（TARP）接受了400多亿美元的纳税人资助。

    花旗拒绝承认存在任何过错，但同时表示，达成和解符合公司的最大利益。这项和解仍有待法院批准——过去花旗在这方面不太顺利。该行在一份声明中表示，它已经改善了风险管理，并重申计划回归“银行基本业务”，这也是花旗首席执行官潘伟迪近来经常挂在口头的话。

    花旗已经加大力度清理金融危机以来爆出的诉讼案，这次和解正是这些努力的结果。仅仅过去一年，花旗已经支付、或同意支付的罚金就已高达23亿美元。该行表示，未来可能还有40亿美元的法律账，但并非所有诉讼都与楼市泡沫破裂及其后果有关。最近花旗表示，已经收到了来自美国和其他外国监管机构关于伦敦银行同业拆借利率（LIBOR）的质询；很多人都认为这一关键借贷利率曾被大银行操纵。

    今年早些时候，花旗同意支付14亿美元罚金，了结有关它与其他银行不公对待濒于止赎房主的指控。周三，负责监督全美按揭和解执行情况的机构称，根据和解协议，花旗已削减了按揭债务达5,400万美元。

    今年早些时候，花旗同意向美国联邦当局支付1.58亿美元，了结有关花旗欺骗政府按揭计划承保不符合条件贷款的指控。花旗还同意向美国证券交易委员会（Securities and Exchange Commission）支付2.85亿美元，了结有关花旗在向投资者出售按揭债券的同时自己做空的指控。这项和解最初被一名法官驳回，目前仍在等待复审。

    5.90亿美元虽然是笔巨款，但对于花旗似乎仍是笔划算的好买卖。这项和解涵盖了从2007年2月至2008年4月购买花旗股票的投资者：同期花旗股价暴跌48%，给投资者造成的损失总计1,400亿美元。

    译者：早稻米

    Citigroup put another piece of its financial crisis clean up bill behind it.

    The bank will pay $590 million to investors who bought the company's stock in the run-up to the financial crisis. The payment settles a class action lawsuit in which the bank's shareholders claimed Citi's management misled investors about the health of the bank in 2007 and 2008. Citi went on to receive more than $40 billion in taxpayer assistance in late 2008 as part of the TARP bailout fund.

    Citi denies it did anything wrong, but said it was in the best interests of the bank to settle. The settlement is still subject to court approval, which has tripped up Citi in the past. In a statement, the bank said it has improved its risk management. It also reiterated that the bank plans to return to "the basics of banking," which has been a common refrain recently for Citi CEO Vikram Pandit.

    The settlement appears to be part of Citi's stepped up to resolve its remaining financial crisis legal bills. In the past year, alone, Citi has agreed to $2.3 billion in payouts or penalties. The firm says it could face an additional $4 billion in legal bills, but not all of those cases are tied to the housing bust and its aftermath. Citi recently said that it has received inquiries from US and foreign regulators relating to the key lending rate LIBOR, which many contend was manipulated by giant banks.

    Earlier this year, Citi agreed to $1.4 billion in penalties to settle claims that it, along with other banks, had mistreated homeowners facing foreclosure. On Wednesday, the monitor overseeing the national mortgage settlement said Citi had completed $54 million in mortgage debt reductions as part of the deal.

    Citi also agreed to pay $158 million to federal authorities earlier this year to settle claims that it tricked a government mortgage program into insuring loans that were not eligible for the program. Citi also agreed to pay $285 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges related to a mortgage bond that Citi sold to investors and bet against at the same time. That settlement was initially rejected by a judge, and is still pending review.

    While big, the $590 million seems like a good deal for Citi. The settlement covers investors who bought bank's stock from February 2007 to April 2008, a period in which Citi's shares plunged 48%, resulting in a collective $140 billion loss for investors.