JURIST - Paper Chase: Corporations and securities brief ~ Citigroup ordered to close Japan offices following securities violations

In Friday's corporations and securities law news, Japan's Financial Services Agency has ordered Citigroup Inc. to close its Japanese private banking offices after discovering a failure to prevent suspected money laundering, lax screening of customer information and improper trading practices. The sanctions will effectively shut the company out of the private banking business in the world's No. 2 economy. Read the Financial Services Agency order here. Read the Citigroup press release relating to the order here. Read about the Citigroup violations here. Reuters has more.

In other news...

The SEC announced it has reached a settlement with Eric I. Tsao, a former executive at MedImmune, Inc. over insider trading charges from which Tsao realized profits of nearly $150,000. Read the SEC press release here. AP has more.
Eleven individuals have been charged with conspiring to distribute counterfeit computer software and documentation after an FBI investigation resulted in one of the largest seizures of fake software ever. A bulk of the illegal seizure were Microsoft products with a street value of $80 million. Read the press release of the United States Attorney in the Central District of California here. PCWorld.com has more.
As previously reported on JURIST's Paper Chase, a San Francisco judge has ordered Microsoft to pay $112.5 million in legal fees stemming from a $1 billion anti-trust settlement in a class-action suit involving California residents. CNET News has background on the settlement, which was reached in July 2003. AP has more.
Qualcomm Inc., a maker of chips used in mobile phones, announced it may change the way it recognizes royalties from licensees if reliable estimates cannot be made. Reuters has more.

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