Tag Archives: Settlements

The ongoing tension between the Justice Department and the House Oversight Committee saw a new development this week as Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California), committee chair and vocal critic of Attorney General Eric Holder, requested the department turn over all of its documents related to its recent securities settlements with JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup.

Joseph A. Smith Jr., who also oversees the 2012 National Mortgage Settlement between five major mortgage servicers and 49 states, said Tuesday that Chase has provided more than $6.3 million so far in credited consumer relief, with nearly $5.1 million coming from cuts to borrowers' principal loan amounts and the rest coming from forbearance actions.

In a conference call Tuesday,JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon took the time to single out FHA-backed lending as a source of risk for the megabank. "[T]he real question is should we be in the FHA business at all? We're still struggling with that," Dimon said. "Until they come up with some kind of safe harbors or something, we're going to be very, very cautious in that line of business."

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's might be looking to strike a deal of up to $1 billion with the government to settle a suit filed last year, the Wall Street Journal reports. The suit alleges that S&P "knowingly and with the intent to defraud, devised, participated in, and executed a scheme to defraud investors" in collateralized debt obligations and securities backed by residential mortgages between September 2004 and October 2007.

Bank of Americaposted second-quarter net income of $2.3 billion on revenue of $22.0 billion. A year ago, the megabank reported bringing $4.0 billion. The bulk of the year-over-year drop in profits stemmed from a $4.0 billion litigation expense, "substantially all" of which was related to legacy mortgage-related matters, the bank said.

On the heels of the government's $7 billion settlement with Citigroup over toxic residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), leaders at the Department of Justice revealed Monday there may be similar settlements or lawsuits on the way. The comments take on deeper meaning in the context of the government's ongoing dealings with Bank of America, which was reportedly close to reaching a settlement on its own MBS case until negotiations stalled.

Citi released its quarterly earnings report Monday morning, posting net profit of $181 million—a decline of 96 percent compared to earnings of $4.2 billion a year ago. The second quarter's results include a $3.8 billion charge related to a $7.0 billion settlement with the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) Working Group, also announced early Monday.

Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday that Citigroup and the Justice Department are closing in on a $7 billion settlement to resolve an investigation into the bank's sale of faulty mortgage-backed securities. The Journal reports that according to people familiar with the matter, the deal will include $4 billion in cash payments to the federal government, with the rest coming in the form of borrower relief.

SunTrust Banks, Inc., announced that it would pay up to $320 million to halt a criminal investigation into whether it had dealt inappropriately with homeowners who were looking to take advantage of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). "Resolving this legacy matter enhances our ability to focus on the future and support the continued housing recovery," said Jerome Lienhard, SunTrust Mortgage, Inc., president and CEO.

GFS Capital Holdings, formerly Greenlight Financial Services, settled a claim with HUD regarding discrimination of women on maternity leave. The company agreed to pay a total of $48,000 to individuals against which it allegedly discriminated. HUD investigated Greenlight after a family complained the company denied their refinance loan application because the wife was on maternity leave at the time.