BNY Mellon pays $6.6 million to resolve SEC charges News
BNY Mellon pays $6.6 million to resolve SEC charges

The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. [corporate website] agreed to pay $6.6 million to resolve charges [press release; SEC order] from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] on Thursday. The civil chargers were filed after the bank miscalculated its risk-based capital ratio. The SEC claims [Reuters report] that BNY Mellon excluded approximately $14 billion in collateralized loan obligation assets from its calculations. An SEC investigation found that the miscalculation caused BNY Mellon to understate its risk-weight assets and overstate some of its risk-based capital ratios in quarterly and annual reports from 2010 to 2014. This caused serious concern about the ability of investors to receive accurate and timely information as “regulatory capital ratios and risk-weighted assets are critical data points for investors in large banking institutions like BNY Mellon,” according to Michael Osnato, Chief of SEC Enforcement Division’s Complex Financial Instruments Unit. BNY Mellon is not admitting or denying the charges in its settlement.

In 2008 the SEC investigated [JURIST report] BNY Mellon over potential breaches of procedure in auction-rate securities sales and purchases. Also in 2008, Russia pursued a racketeering lawsuit [JURIST report] against BNY Mellon. In November 2005 BNY Mellon agreed [JURIST report] to pay $38 million in fines in order to avoid US prosecution related to the scandal.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.