[JURIST] Leading Friday's corporations and securities law news, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer [Wikipedia profilie] has been sued by the US Department of the Treasury's Comptroller of the Currency [official website] and by the Clearing House [corporate website], a group representing national banks. The suit is an effort to stop Spitzer’s office from subpoenaing information from banks over accusations of discriminatory interest rates on home mortgages. The complainants argues that states do not have the authority to regulate national banks. In a Friday press release, Spitzer called the suit "shameful". The Comptroller of the Currency has a press release on its action. AP has more.

In other corporations and securities news…

• As reported earlier by JURIST’s Paper Chase, former Tyco [JURIST new archive] CEO Dennis Kozlowski [Wikipedia profile] has been convicted of grand larceny. Tyco’s former finance chief, Mark Swartz, was also convicted. Kozlowski was accused of stealing millions of dollars from the company in addition to selling inflated stock and taking out improper loans. Bloomberg has more. The proceeding was a re-trial; the first trial of Kozlowski and Swartz ended in disarray last April after outside pressure was put on a juror [JURIST report].
• An SEC [official website] report released this week says that off-books accounts like those in the Enron [JURIST Hot Topics archived coverage] scandal still exist. The 115-page report outlines existing problems and possible solutions for dealing with illegal book-keeping. The SEC has a press release with a link to the complete report. The Washington Post has more.