Sunday, October 5, 2008

Citigroup cons Judge Ramos on Wachovia

Remember Judge Ramos? The judge that arbitrarily and capriciously decided that Grasso, somehow didn't fully inform the board of the NYSE, included Secretary Paulson, of his pay package?
http://www.nysun.com/business/judges-ruling-could-cost-grasso-100-million/41951/

Of course, all this was reversed on appeal. So Citigroup decided to have a meeting at his house Saturday, telling the judge that it's $1 bid for Wachovia with taxpayer assistance was far better than Wells Fargo $7 bid without any taxpayer help. Heck, if Spitzer could con Ramos about Grasso, then Citigroup could con Ramos about Wachovia!

And they succeeded. But then, Citigroup was in his backyard and back pocket, while Wells Fargo is on the other coast.

Citigroup raised the stakes in the merger battle on Saturday afternoon, asking Justice Charles E. Ramos of New York State Supreme Court to issue an emergency order blocking the deal between Wachovia and Wells Fargo.

Representatives from the banks met at Justice Ramos’s home in Cornwall, Conn., late Saturday afternoon for more than three hours of oral arguments, according to people briefed on the situation.

In the unusual weekend session, Citigroup presented Justice Ramos with a 16-page complaint naming both Wells Fargo and Wachovia, and their boards, as defendants. But it has not yet filed the suit formally because the courts were closed.

Late Saturday, after several hours of intense legal jockeying, Justice Ramos issued
an injunction effectively blocking the Wells Fargo deal, pending a hearing scheduled for Friday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/business/05bank.html?ref=business

When Ramos allowed Spitzer to pursue Grasso, Dick Grasso said Ramos' ruling was "riddled with errors." On appeal, that was proven.

So it will be with this injunction.

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