The SEC capped its investigation into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by charging six former executives with failing to disclose their companies' exposure in high-risk mortgages. The defendants have fired back, with one arguing that there's no standard definition for subprime loans.

Class action litigation is beginning to take shape over allegations that major banks manipulated Libor, the benchmark rate used to calculate interest on trillions of dollars in securities globally. On Monday the federal district court judge hearing the litigation consolidated 20 class complaints, and appointed interim class counsel.

For all the sound and fury the case generated, the $150 million settlement Judge Rakoff reluctantly approved this week doesn't clarify corporate disclosure requirements at all. The bank still says there was nothing wrong with its disclosures, the SEC still provides no guidance to M&A advisers--and American shareholders are still the big losers.