Tag Archives: Department of Justice

Last week’s settlement between Goldman Sachs and several regulators, including the U.S. Department of Justice, for $5 billion to resolve claims of RMBS fraud has fueled speculation among analysts that the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will reach a settlement in the next few weeks to resolve claims.

The investment banking firm is the latest on a list of banks to agree to settle federal and state investigations probes for allegedly selling bad RMBS in the time period leading up to the financial crisis.

Earlier this year, the nation's third-largest mortgage lender and the Department of Justice went back and forth in a legal battle accusing the lender of improperly originating and underwriting Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages. This battle could very well be the lender's motivation to leave the government program alone for good.

The U.S. may be following through on promise made a few months ago to target individual executives from the Royal Bank of Scotland and JPMorgan Chase for their alleged criminal role in financial crisis. In September, the Department of Justice issued a memo to all U.S. state attorneys general stating that it will pursue the prosecution of individuals whose actions brought on the Great Recession of seven years ago. The DOJ is reportedly standing by their word and pursuing criminal cases against executives at these two banking institutions for allegedly selling flawed mortgage securities after being warned by associates of their wrongdoings.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday that he believes the U.S. government should have sought the prosecution of individuals for their roles in precipitating the 2008 financial crisis rather than companies.

This week, First Horizon National Corp. announced that First Tennessee, the regional bank for First Horizon, reached an agreement with HUD and the U.S. Department of Justice to settle claims related the mortgage business the company sold in 2008. As part of the settlement, First Tennessee has committed to make a cash payment of $212.5 million.

Grassley wrote in his letters that it is unclear whether the President asserted executive privilege to withhold documents regarding the sweeping of GSE profits into Treasury and questions whether the Justice Department was authorized to withhold the documents.

The DOJ filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed in May 2014, and Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia accepted the motion, claiming the plaintiff did not have sufficient grounds to sue the Justice Department.