Ex-State Street Banker Found Guilty of Defrauding Institutions

A former State Street Corp. executive was found guilty of defrauding sovereign funds and other institutional investors by tacking hidden commissions onto billions of dollars’ worth of trades, dismissing an oft-used defense that such practices are just business as usual on Wall Street.

Once again, a jury was asked to decide whether a banker committed fraud or just behaved as any car dealer would by cutting a sharp deal.

And once again, a banker was found guilty, in a verdict that could have reverberations on Wall Street, where bankers are loath to be compared to car salesmen -- except, it ...