German bank UniCredit Bank Aktiengesellschaft may not be liable for lending money to an American investor as part of a tax shelter scheme later shut down by the IRS, even though the bank admitted to wrongdoing in connection with the scheme, a New York state appeals panel ruled last week.

A New Jersey appeal court has upheld a $1 million default judgment against a lawyer who failed to lodge a timely challenge to a bank’s collection suit. There was no excusable neglect in Douglas Hanna’s not filing an answer, nor was there merit in his belated challenges to the bank’s standing to sue, the court found.

Bank of America has filed a motion in federal court to disqualify Quinn Emanuel from representing AIG in its $10 billion suit against the bank, arguing that the firm is fatally conflicted because a London partner had represented Merrill Lynch and a subsidiary as a partner at Munger Tolles.

After the subprime mortgage disaster four years ago, top management at UBS was called to task for having a Pollyanna-ish view of its risk exposure. Now, fallout from a $2 billion rogue-trading loss is again raising questions about the bank’s risk management systems.

The bankruptcy trustee for Guaranty Bank, whose collapse was the fourth-largest bank failure of the recent financial crisis, asserts that the bank’s former parent company and its executives and directors “acted with appalling self-interest” and looted the bank of over $1 billion.