UBS Agrees to Multi-Million Dollar Settlement

The SEC and several states, including New York, have reached a multi-million dollar settlement with UBS over alleged fraud in municipal bond auctions. Without admitting guilt, the Swiss bank will make payments totaling $160 million to settle charges it defrauded local government bond issuers. The bank was accused of engaging in various forms of bid rigging and securities fraud from 2000 to 2004. New York City's Municipal Water Finance Authority is among the parties, and is now eligible to take part in a claims process. The settlement is the part of a long-running and still on-going investigation.

Insider Trading Trial Continues in Manhattan

There have been some speed bumps in the jury's deliberations on the fate of Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire hedge fund manager accused of insider trading. Judge Richard Holwell dismissed a sick juror and replaced her with an alternate. The judge then directed the jurors to start deliberations from square one.

Rajaratnam himself had to have emergency foot surgery earlier this week, and is now recuperating. He's accused of making $63.8 million in illegal profits for his Galleon hedge fund, based on insider information.

Markets

Fresh worries about unemployment push markets down on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones lost 84 points, to close at 12,.724.
The S&P 500 lost nine points, ending at 1,347.
The NASDAQ lost 13 points, to close at 2,828.