Proposed Settlement Between Citigroup, SEC Denied

A district judge recently ruled to reject a proposed $285 million settlement between Citigroup and the Securities and Exchange Commission over toxic mortgage securities, reports the Associated Press.

According to the news source, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff lashed out at regulators for hiding details of the alleged wrongdoings from the public and said that he could not tell whether or not the deal was fair.

Rakoff explained that the public had the right to know about cases involving the "transparency of financial markets whose gyrations have so depressed our economy and debilitated our lives," according to the AP.

Just as Rakoff shot down the proposed settlement, economists at Citigroup said recently that the euro zone debt crisis will continue to escalate in 2012, leading the company to slash its 2012 global growth forecast, according to CNBC.

"We now expect real GDP to fall by 1.2 percent in 2012, whereas last month we forecast a 0.3 percent decline and four months ago we forecast expansion of 1.2 percent," the economists said.