Citigroup Settles with Aloha State for One Billion Plus

Keep your eyes on holiday news, as a great deal of unpleasant, "sweep-it-under-the-rug" information becomes public information during these "slow" news days.

Today's Exhibit A is provided courtesy of the Washington Post, in which they carry an AP story about Citigroup settling a lawsuit out of court with the state of Hawaii. The Aloha State sued the Federal government's leading financial ward for over one billion dollars lost in student-loan backed securities. The settlement provides that Hawaii get par value for the securities.

Of course, the Citigroup scam is another example of how deeply the corruption scoured our nation's institutions.

Major money market banks, including Citicorp, will quickly get over this depressing episode. It has been reported the Wall Street bonus pool for this year will, in aggregate, come in around $140 billion. That does take the luster off a mere one billion dollar settlement.

The photograph shows students celebrating Hawaii Pacific University's 35th anniversary in the year 2000. The institution is currently conducting a search for a new university president.