SEC probing all 19 largest US banks

Chairman Mary Schapiro told a congressional panel that the agency has sent letters to 19 banks seeking information about whether they are using accounting tricks that a bankruptcy examiner said masked the bank's precarious financial condition. Lehman failed in September 2008 in the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Schapiro, who was not with the SEC at the time, said the agency is scrutinizing Lehman's use of the accounting move, known as Repo 105, that allowed it to mask its weakness.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/04/20/financial/f094054D87.DTL#ixzz0lhpJOlNd

On a side note: Here is SEC's letter to the banks. Hat tip to Propublica article in March. Propublica explored Bank of America's connection to repo 105 stayle accounting tricks. Click here.