NY AG says Citi destroyed documents

At first glance, the news that the New York state attorney general is prepared to charge Citi with fraud regarding its auction rate securities practices is similar to news of charges against Merrill Lynch and UBS. But the twist is that Andrew Cuomo's office says that Citi destroyed evidence--tapes and documents--that were under subpoena. The AG also says the bank failed to notify regulators of the destroyed evidence once it knew about it. According to the AP, Citi said that it routinely "recycles tapes" and that their destruction was inadvertent. The bank said that it has since "suspended all recycling of tapes and preserved all existing tapes." There may be an industrywide global settlement that eventually emerges. It's doubtful that the AG will overlook the evidence issue entirely. The bank may be singled out. Another headache for Vikram Pandit.  

For more:
- here's the AP article