Normally, civilians aren't allowed to set foot in Cilieni: a pretend settlement, purpose-built by the British Army on the Brecon Beacons military range, to train troops in fighting house-to-house.
According to documents posted on the commission's Web site, the consent agreement "is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the respondents that the law has been violated," as the complaint had alleged.
He also advocated further tightening of the commission's rules, which in addition to outright denial allow a settling company to say that its agreement "is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by any party that the law has been violated".
Given that this is a settlement, it's important to note that today's "consent order is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the defendant that the law has been violated".
We could not find a definitive value for the asbestos claims in the plan documents, but the carve-out implies a valuation of some $4.8 billion was used for settlement purposes.
Another is that states may be able to use money from the settlement for purposes other than foreclosure relief.
The second circuit specifically says the decision on whether the settlement serves that purpose "rests squarely with the SEC".
Nor do they fulfill the settlement's main purpose: to keep underwater borrowers in their homes by reducing the principal on their mortgage loans.
Mr. Feinberg's instinct will be to encourage people to accept a final settlement; the main purpose of the program, after all, is to provide an expeditious alternative to drawn-out lawsuits, and the idea worked well after 9/11.
"Denigrating the notion of a settlement and the purpose of the buy-back program is disturbing," he added.
Some of the money that states did get as a result of the settlement went to purposes that only the most generous interpretation could possibly describe as homeowner relief.
