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"                      <p class=\"imgtitle\">Cuomo</p>                                <p class=\"imgtitle\">Coakley</p>           NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday, along with federal regulators, that Citigroup will buy back more than $7 billion sold in auction rate securities.<br /><br />Citigroup must also pay $100 million in civil penalties as part of the agreement, reached less than a week after Cuomo <a href=\"http://legalnewsline.com/news/214544-cuomo-threatens-to-charge-citigroup-over-auction-rate-securities-probe\" class=\"copy\">announced his intention to sue</a> the company for allegedly misrepresenting the liquidity of the securities, which have their interest rates reset periodically by auctions.<br /><br />Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley made $1.5-million announcement of her own Thursday, revealing an agreement with Morgan Stanley, but the big news belonged to Cuomo.<br /><br />\"Today's settlement sends a resounding message to the entire auction rate securities industry: This type of deceptive behavior will not be tolerated and we will actively seek justice on behalf of investors in auction rate securities,\" Cuomo said.<br /><br />\"Our goal is simple: To get investors back their money. And that's exactly what this deal does.\"<br /><br />Cuomo sought relief for investors harmed when the auction rate securities market stumbled earlier this year. Swiss bank UBS, Morgan Stanley and <a href=\"http://legalnewsline.com/news/214475-ubs-agrees-to-pay-4.4-million-to-settle-probe\" class=\"copy\">Merrill Lynch</a>, like Citigroup, have been targets.<br /><br />Citigroup has until Nov. 5 to buy all illiquid auction rate securities from customers, charities and small to mid-size businesses. Cuomo said Citigroup has approximately 40,000 customers nationwide who have been unable to sell their securities since Feb. 12.<br /><br />Citigroup admitted no wrongdoing. The company has fallen on hard times recently, posting a total loss of $17.4 billion in the last three quarters.<br /><br />The Securities and Exchange Commission said Citigroup must attempt to liquidate all $12 billion worth of auction rate securities the company sold to retirement plans and other institutions by the end of 2009. <br /><br />Cuomo's office will receive $50 million in civil penalties, while the North American Securities Administrators Association will receive another $50 million. NASAA's task force had its own investigation, led by the Texas State Securities Board, of Citigroup.<br /><br />Coakley, meanwhile, said Morgan Stanley will give $1.5 million back in investment monies to the City of New Bedford and the Town of Hopkinton.<br /><br />Cuomo has already reached <a href=\"http://legalnewsline.com/news/211994-coakley-ubs-to-return-35-million-to-mass.-local-governments\" class=\"copy\">a similar pact with UBS</a>, which agreed to return more than $35 million to Massachusetts municipal governments.<br /><br /><em>From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at john@legalnewsline.com.</em><br /><br />"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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