| Page 2 of 2 < |
NATIONAL BRIEFING
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
A WaMu lawyer told Judge Mary Walrath that disclosing pricing details could hurt the value the company might receive and "chill future transactions."
Walrath sided with a lawyer for the U.S. trustee that the assets do not meet the definition of confidential commercial information whose disclosure could give WaMu's competitors an unfair advantage.
$28 Million for Madoff Trustee
A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved $28.1 million to cover salaries and other expenses tied to the liquidation of the investment firm run by Bernard L. Madoff, accused of running a Ponzi scheme that cost investors up to $50 billion. A lawyer for the trustee said the money is coming from a frozen account and will not affect any recovery for investors.
CONTRACTING
Award Protests Hit 10-Year High
There were more challenges to federal contracts in 2008 than any year in the past decade as companies fought over fewer multibillion-dollar projects.
While federal auditors found errors in few of the government's decisions, more than $70 billion in defense contracts alone were delayed this year due to losing bidders lodging protests.
More than 1,600 protests were filed by U.S. businesses with federal auditors in 2008. That's up 17 percent from last year and the highest level since 1998, according an annual report by the Government Accountability Office.
Boeing Wins Missile Deal
Boeing received a $397.9 million contract from the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency to continue development of the Ground-Based Midcourse Missile Defense program.
Boeing is the prime contractor for the Ground-Based Midcourse Missile Defense system and holds a 10-year, $15.4 billion contract. The system, with interceptors in Alaska and California, is designed to shoot down long-range ballistic missiles in space.
The system has destroyed targets successfully in eight of 13 tests since 1999.
SEC
Enforcement Accountant Leaves
The top accountant in the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement branch is leaving for a private-sector job next month in what could herald a wave of departures from the embattled agency. Susan Markel, chief accountant in the agency's division of enforcement, is taking a job in the corporate investigations practice of AlixPartners, a turnaround consulting firm. She had been at the SEC since 1994 and took her current position in 2003.
Alleged Ponzi Scheme Halted
The Securities and Exchange Commission, under congressional scrutiny for failing to detect Bernard L. Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme, said it halted an unrelated $23.4 million scam targeting Haitian Americans. A federal court in Florida agreed to freeze assets and appoint a receiver after the agency sued George Theodule and two entities he controlled, the SEC said.
Compiled from reports by Washington Post staff writers, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News.
