Citigroup Inc. (C)’s $285 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over mortgage-backed securities was rejected by a Manhattan federal judge. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff rejected the settlement in an opinion released today. The judge has criticized the agreement for permitting New York-based Citigroup to settle without admitting or denying liability in the matter.

Here's a win for accountability in the financial industry

Tyler Durden a Zero Hedge writes that:

It is unclear if the reversal is a bigger slap in the face for Citi or for the SEC, but one thing is certain: both parties are to be massively embarassed as a result of this ruling which essentially says that both entities are culpable - the first of committing a far greater crime than the $285 mm fine deems fit, and the second of being a complicit enabler of precisely this kind of criminal behavior which it then fines with some token amount and things can continue as they were.

Judge Rakoff ordered the case to go to trial in July.