A federal judge rejected a $285 million settlement between Citigroup and the Securities and Exchange Commission, objecting to the practice of allowing banks to settle fraud cases without admitting guilt. Citi may now face a trial over the sale of toxic mortgages which cost investors millions but made the bank profit. The judge said the public has a right to "the transparency of financial markets whose gyrations have so depressed our economy and debilitated our lives."

Much of the political turmoil surrounding the euro zone crisis has centered around the question of whether fiscally stronger nations, such as Germany and France, should have to bail out Greece and other struggling economies. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has held the purse strings along with other leaders who have demanded strict austerity measures in those countries receiving assistance. Merkel is under political pressure at home with many in her government feeling that the Greeks, like the German people, should have lived within their means.

A weak economy and the failed pension plans of several bankrupt companies have increased the financial burden of the government agency that insures pensions for one in seven Americans. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) insures private sector pension plans and takes over retirement benefit payouts when traditional pensions fail. Unfortunately, the little-known federal agency is reporting a record $26 billion deficit for the fiscal year ending in late September. The director of the agency has said that they may "eventually" need a bailout from taxpayers.

Days after the Eurozone's emergency summit meeting yielded relatively successful results the head of the Eurozone bailout fund is in China this morning asking officials to help rescue European nations. China's deputy finance minister has said that his country wants more details before investing in the Eurozone bailout fund. Joining The Takeaway from Beijing is Martin Patience, correspondent for our partner the BBC. Andrew Leung is an international and independent China specialist, and chairman of Andrew Leung International Consultants.

In Europe, political parties in Slovakia are figuring out their next step a day after the Parliament there dramatically rejected plans to expand the European Union bailout fund. Slovakia is the last euro zone state to vote on ratifying the expansion of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). The E.U.'s plan is to expand the fund's effective lending capacity to €440 billion, roughly $600 billion, as well as empowering it to buy eurozone government debt and offer credit lines to member states and to banks. Top E.U. officials have today been urging the country to ratify the bill swiftly — and a new vote on the fund is likely by the end of this week.

It's Monday morning, which means it's time to take a look at what's on the agenda for the week ahead. President Obama will be preparing his Labor Day speech on the economy this week, and after after Hurricane Irene's chaotic visit to the East Coast, leaving billions of dollars in damage behind, he may have to rethink what he's going to say. Irene hit at a time when the U.S. economy is continuing to slump and millions are jobless. Unemployment figures will be out on Friday, and the Congressional Budget Office is predicting that employment will not return to normal levels until 2017. Meanwhile Greece, may not receive a bailout from the European Union, as Finland hesitates to approve it. All EU members must approve the bailout, for it to go into effect.

European leaders came to an agreement yesterday to help keep Greece and the rest of the euro zone from falling further into financial crisis. Greece will receive a second bailout, in the amount of 109 billion euros, or $157 billion. The move by the euro zone comes as Ireland and Portugal are still teetering on economic turmoil. The European Financial Stability Facility, the euro zone's rescue fund, will be given broad new powers to assist countries that have not yet been bailed out. It is unclear how French and German citizens, who have opposed any bailout, will react to the deal.

This morning, the Greek Parliament voted in favor of a package of austerity measures that includes tax hikes and spending cuts. The vote comes despite two days of protests in Athens, where polls say 80 percent of Greeks were against the measures. The package is an effort to avoid defaulting via a second bailout from the European Union. The vote is being met with violence on the streets of Athens.

Greece is preparing this morning to vote on drastic austerity measures that have sparked nationwide strikes and rioting in the country's capital, Athens. 5,000 police were deployed to Athens over the past two days, to combat protesters with tear gas. Meanwhile, the climate inside Parliament is calm as they prepare to vote. If the austerity measures pass, Greece will be able to obtain a second bail-out from the European Union, and avoid defaulting. 

Demonstrators continue to protest in the streets of Athens today, amid violence and tear gas. Many Greeks are not happy with their government's upcoming vote on austerity measures, which would mean higher taxes and many spending cuts. If Greece's government does not pass the austerity measures, though, they would be at risk of not receiving a €12 billion bail-out, and becoming the first eurozone country to default.

As we await the news of the Greek Parliament's vote in Athens on the austerity measures, reporters in the area give us an update on the climate there. 

Robert Gates will step down as Secretary of Defense this week, with Leon Panetta taking over. Panetta will have a lot on his plate, starting with the start of U.S. troops withdrawing from Afghanistan later this week. Noel King, managing producer for The Takeaway, looks at what obstacles are in store for Panetta as he begins his reign as Defense Secretary. 

President Obama will meet with Congressional leaders to try and come to an agreement on raising the debt ceiling, or face going into default. Charlie Herman, business and economics editor for The Takeaway and WNYC, looks at the economic effects this on-going debate could have if a conclusion is not reached soon. 

President Obama will be speaking with workers at a Chrysler plant in Toledo, Ohio, on Friday. The visit comes on the back of a report released showing the government’s $80 billion auto bailout will only cost taxpayers about $14 billion at the end of the day – far less than originally expected. The report also shows the American car industry has created 115,000 jobs since the government stepped in. The president will be selling this as a big success story – but is it?

Many of the big banks received huge bailouts from the government during the great recession. If they faced a crisis again, what would stop them from expecting another bailout the next time around? That question has led one Fed official, Thomas Hoenig, president of the Kansas City Fed, to raise the issue of whether big banks should be reclassified as government sponsored entities, kind of like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

During the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve got a lot of flack for handing out big bailouts to major banks like Citibank and JP Morgan Chase, which were deemed "too big to fail." But it turns out that many more banks received funds through the Federal Reserve Bank's so-called “discount window” policy, including investment banks and foreign banks. The names of those banks were released last week, after the Supreme Court ruled in February that under the Freedom of Information Act, the Fed had to make the names and amounts known.

Most of the companies who received money from the TARP bailout funds have been public knowledge ... but yesterday, the Fed revealed that a slate of prominent American companies used billions of dollars in bailout loans during the height of the financial crisis, including such corporate pillars as GE, Verizon and McDonalds, to name a few.  We speak with New York Times Wall Street and finance reporter Louise Story for the program's details. 

The International Monetary Fund’s $140 billion bailout for Ireland has been set in motion, but some economists are talking about a better option for the Emerald Isle: defaulting on their debt. What’s so bad about asking investors to suffer the consequences of over lending?

Ireland's bailout moves forward, as the country takes a $140 billion from the International Monetary Fund. The move has postponed some looming problems for Portugal, which the E.U. also worries is in need of large-scale financial help. But questions remain about whether the bailout of Ireland will create the necessary stability in the Euro single currency zone or not. The BBC's Theo Leggett joins us for more.  

Insurance giant AIG has reached an agreement and a plan with the federal government to pay back some $70 billion given to the company in 2008 as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, just before their two-year deadline on October 3. Under the agreement, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will remove it's ties to American International Group, and the Treasury will increase it's stake to 92 percent, gradually bringing the shares it owns from preferred to public to transfer the control back out of government hands. But is the public buying? Louise Story gives us the latest.

In the aftershocks of the financial crisis and with billions of dollars flying in stimulus, TARP, and other tools, have you been left wondering where your bailout is? Takeaway contributor, Beth Kobliner has gotten that question a lot: she's the author of “Get a Financial Life.”