The Journal reports that Federal prosecutors are “actively pursuing” criminal cases against executives from RBS and JPMorgan for the toxic securities sold in the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis. If filed, the charges “would be among the first pursued against specific employees of the largest Wall Street firms over the housing collapse” despite the billions such banks have paid in fines and settlements for their behavior – WSJ
Regulators are also probing private-company valuations of startups, especially as shares of these companies are ending up in “some of the most popular mutual funds available to small investors” – WSJ
Investors’ decreasing appetite for junk bonds and riskier high-yield loans has forced banks to table plans to sell “several billion dollars’ worth” of such debt—potentially swinging them to unanticipated losses – NYTimes
It’s Fed Meeting Minutes day! Here are the Journal’s 5 things to watch – WSJ
N.D. Georgia Judge Leigh Martin May’s at it again—staying SEC administrative proceedings based on findings that the agency’s in-house courts are likely unconstitutional. The subject of the SEC’s scrutiny this time is Ironridge Global Partners, accused of operating as an unregistered broker-dealer – Law360
Goldman Sachs bankers are reportedly trying to discern the “secret habits of a potentially lucrative species of retail shopper: millennial women”—the subject of major bank research in the past years based on the group’s economic influence. No word yet on how a big bank’s stamp of approval affects a brand’s cachet – NYTimes
Still not too far removed from an expose into the less-than-savory corporate life at Amazon, the Times is back with a very differently toned piece on the online behemoth that lauds CEO Jeff Bezos’ embrace of the long game – NYTimes
Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo is warning against “knee-jerk rules” that would regulate the nonbank “shadow banking” industry, arguing that such lenders “can provide much-needed credit to ‘underserved’ borrowers as well as diverse financial instruments for American households” – Law360
SilverLake just dropped a boatload of cash on SolarCity, even as it has struggled in past months – NYTimes
Yet another argument for not skipping Leg Day – NYTimes