Greg Farrell

The lawsuit alleges that Jim Chanos "planned on using his power as general partner to run the company into the ground, enjoy the tax benefits of his financial shenanigans, and leave his partners with nothing."

The defendants laundered their “vast criminal proceeds” through at least 75 shell companies, according to the indictment.

Now that two of the biggest U.S. banks are convicted felons, the Justice Department appears to have proven the point it set out to make a year ago -- that it could deliver the harshest penalty possible against financial institutions without inflicting fatal wounds.

The settlement brings the total global fines for the scandal to about $9 billion, paid by a dozen firms. UBS paid $1.5 billion in 2012.

Georges Chodron de Courcel’s resignation after more than 40 years at BNPParibas SA won’t soften U.S. demands for a guilty plea and a $10 billion penalty from the French bank for sanctions violations, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Credit Suisse Group AG is close to reaching an agreement to plead guilty and pay about $2.5 billion to the U.S. Justice Department and regulators to resolve investigations into whether it helped Americans evade taxes, three people familiar with the matter said.

New York’s top banking regulator sent a subpoena to Credit Suisse Group last week as he examines whether its private bank helped clients evade state taxes, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

New York's top banking regulator is joining the U.S. Justice Department in investigating whether Credit Suisse Group helped U.S. clients evade taxes, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

Former Bank of America Chairman Kenneth Lewis agreed to a three-year ban on serving as a public company's officer or director and to pay $10 million to settle claims by New York's attorney general that he misled investors about the bank's 2009 purchase of Merrill Lynch.