Supreme Court Rejects Madoff Trustee Appeal on Bank Lawsuits

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away an appeal by a court-appointed trustee who was seeking to sue several banks on behalf of victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. The court’s action closes one legal avenue for trustee Irving Picard, who had sought to press lawsuits against banks including UBS AG UBSN.VX +1.29% , HSBC Holdings HSBA.LN +0.89% PLC and UniCredit UCG.MI +2.45% SpA, alleging they aided the Madoff scheme, collecting steep fees while ignoring warning signs of the massive fraud. Lower courts in New York ruled Mr. Picard didn’t have legal standing to bring those claims on behalf of Mr. Madoff’s victims. The Supreme Court left those rulings in place, rejecting Mr. Picard’s appeal without comment. More in the Wall Street Journal here.