Tag Archives: Justice Department

SunTrust announced Thursday that it has taken further steps to clear up its mortgage problems with the government and with the GSEs. On top of an agreement reached with Freddie Mac at the end of September, SunTrust has settled with HUD, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Reserve for allegedly unsound practices with respect to its servicing and origination operations. The Atlanta-based lender estimates its third-quarter earnings will take a $179 million hit as a result.

The debate over TARP is only one of several five-year anniversaries we mark this month, all related to the mortgage meltdown.

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman revealed plans Monday to take legal action against Bank of America and Wells Fargo for allegedly violating terms under the national mortgage settlement reached in February 2012. The AG's office also revealed Schneiderman sent a letter last week to the settlement monitor Joseph Smith and to each member of the Monitoring Committee notifying them of his intention to sue the banks if the committee does not act.

Attorneys for Standard & Poor's (S&P) filed Monday a motion to dismiss a civil lawsuit from the federal government accusing the ratings agency of inflating ratings and misrepresenting the creditworthiness of certain securities. In their filing, S&P's attorneys argue that the government cannot prove S&P knowingly issued rating opinions it did not believe, dismissing exchanges between employees offered by the plaintiffs as proof of intent to defraud investors.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder caused a stir Wednesday by voicing the idea that certain financial institutions may be "too big to jail." In a testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Justice Department (DoJ) oversight, Holder said he is "concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to to prosecute when we are hit with indications ... it will have a negative impact on the national economy."

A federal judge turned down Wells Fargo's claim that a federal lawsuit against the bank violates the terms of the national mortgage settlement.

The Justice Department (DoJ) and Standard & Poor's (S&P) are at odds with other over civil fraud charges stemming from an alleged scheme to defraud investors in the lead-up to 2008's financial meltdown. The DoJ filed a civil lawsuit against S&P and its parent company, McGraw-Hill, Monday, alleging that S&P "knowingly [issued] inflated credit ratings" for collateralized debt obligations in the years before the crash, misrepresenting their creditworthiness and understating their risks.

It's been months since New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed suit against JPMorgan Chase over faulty mortgage-backed securities (MBS), but the bank is now coming out of its own corner swinging. Attorneys for the bank filed a motion to dismiss in early January, arguing that because Schneiderman brought his claims under the Martin Act (an article granting the attorney general increased power to combat financial fraud), they are subject to a three-year statute of limitations that has already elapsed.

Lorraine Brown's legal drama continues as Michigan attorney general Bill Schuette announced the filing of a felony charge against the former DocX president. Brown is being charged with one count of conducting criminal enterprises (racketeering) for her alleged role in authorizing the fraudulent signing of mortgage documents filed in the state.

The RMBS Working Group filed a complaint against Credit Suisse for allegedly misrepresenting securities sold to investors.