The trial of former Bear Stearns hedge-fund managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin is set to begin in Brooklyn in September. It will be a huge media event, and in some ways--fairly or not--it will be a trial of all that went wrong on Wall Street.

But Fortune notes there's a wrench in the works: A FINRA arbitration featuring Racetrac Petroleum, an Atlanta chain of gasoline convenience stores. It lost all of its $5 million investment in the hedge funds when they collapsed. The problem for U.S. Attorney Patrick Sinclair is that the arbitration could bring forth a slew of depositions that could really affect his criminal case and affect public opinion. It could also bring a flood of suits against JPMorgan Chase, which now owns Bear. Sinclair has asked that the FINRA arbitration be delayed until after the trial. 

For more:
- here's the Fortune article

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