U.S. is set to sue a dozen big banks over mortgages

The federal agency that oversees the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is set to file suits against more than a dozen big banks, accusing them of misrepresenting the quality of mortgage securities they assembled and sold at the height of the housing bubble, and seeking billions of dollars in compensation.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency suits, which are expected to be filed in the coming days in federal court, are aimed at Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, among others, according to three individuals briefed on the matter.
The suits stem from subpoenas the finance agency issued to banks a year ago. If the case is not filed Friday, they said, it will come Tuesday, shortly before a deadline expires for the housing agency to file claims.
The suits will argue the banks, which assembled the mortgages and marketed them as securities to investors, failed to perform the due diligence required under securities law and missed evidence that borrowers’ incomes were inflated or falsified. When many borrowers were unable to pay their mortgages, the securities backed by the mortgages quickly lost value.
Fannie and Freddie lost more than $30 billion, in part as a result of the deals, losses that were borne mostly by taxpayers.

In July, the agency filed suit against UBS, another major mortgage securitizer, seeking to recover at least $900 million, and the individuals with knowledge of the case said the new litigation would be similar in scope.
Private holders of mortgage securities are already trying to force the big banks to buy back tens of billions in soured mortgage-backed bonds, but this federal effort is a new chapter in a huge legal fight that has alarmed investors in bank shares. In this case, rather than demanding that the banks buy back the original loans, the finance agency is seeking reimbursement for losses on the securities held by Fannie and Freddie.
The impending litigation underscores how almost exactly three years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the beginning of a financial crisis caused in large part by subprime lending, the legal fallout is mounting.

Besides the angry investors, 50 state attorneys general are in the final stages of negotiating a settlement to address abuses by the largest mortgage servicers, including Bank of America, JPMorgan and Citigroup. The attorneys general, as well as federal officials, are pressing the banks to pay at least $20 billion in that case, with much of the money earmarked to reduce mortgages of homeowners facing foreclosure.
And last month, the insurance giant American International Group filed a $10 billion suit against Bank of America, accusing the bank and its Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch units of misrepresenting the quality of mortgages that backed the securities A.I.G. bought.
Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan all declined to comment. Frank Kelly, a spokesman for Deutsche Bank, said, “We can’t comment on a suit that we haven’t seen and hasn’t been filed yet.”

But privately, financial service industry executives argue that the losses on the mortgage-backed securities were caused by a broader downturn in the economy and the housing market, not by how the mortgages were originated or packaged into securities. In addition, they contend that investors like A.I.G. as well as Fannie and Freddie were sophisticated and knew the securities were not without risk.
Investors fear that if banks are forced to pay out billions of dollars for mortgages that later defaulted, it could sap earnings for years and contribute to further losses across the financial services industry, which has only recently regained its footing.
Bank officials also counter that further legal attacks on them will only delay the recovery in the housing market, which remains moribund, hurting the broader economy. Other experts warned that a series of adverse settlements costing the banks billions raises other risks, even if suits have legal merit.
The housing finance agency was created in 2008 and assigned to oversee the hemorrhaging government-backed mortgage companies, a process known as conservatorship.
“While I believe that F.H.F.A. is acting responsibly in its role as conservator, I am afraid that we risk pushing these guys off of a cliff and we’re going to have to bail out the banks again,” said Tim Rood, who worked at Fannie Mae until 2006 and is now a partner at the Collingwood Group, which advises banks and servicers on housing-related issues.

Nelson D. Schwartz

The New York Times

La noticia es de dos páginas; sólo cuelgo la primera y el enlace.
Estaría bien que alguien pagase.

EEUU prepara una demanda contra varios bancos por las hipotecas basura - EcoDiario.es

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Si la mejor defensa que se les ocurre es decir que las hipotecas tienen su riesgo y que AIG y Fannie Mae y Mac Freddie deberían haberlo sabido, apañados van. ¿O es que es lo mismo darle una hipoteca por el 50% de un palacete en el Sardinero al tito Botín que darle al primer hobo que pasa por delante de la oficina una hipoteca por el 120% de una chabola burbujeada en el downtown de Detroit?

EE.UU. demandará a más de una docena de bancos por beneficiarse de las "hipotecas basura"
La querella irá dirigida, entre otros, contra Bank of America, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs y Deutsche Bank, según informan tres fuentes cercanas al caso.
Nueva York. (EP).- La Agencia Federal de Finanzas de Estados Unidos prepara una demanda contra más de una docena de bancos por valorar erróneamente los títulos hipotecarios que se concedieron en plena burbuja inmobiliaria, según informa el diario The New York Times. La demanda irá dirigida, entre otros, contra Bank of America, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs y Deutsche Bank, según informan tres fuentes cercanas al caso, citadas por el rotativo estadounidense.

La agencia argumenta que estos grandes bancos no observaron la diligencia debida a la hora de calificar los títulos hipotecarios, ya que inflaron su valor, el cual se redujo significativamente con la aparición de los primeros deudores. El objetivo de la agencia es recuperar las pérdidas millonarias que ocasionaron y que, en su mayoría, han tenido que sufragar los estadounidenses con subidas de impuestos. En concreto, pretende recuperar parte de las pérdidas ocasionadas por las agencias de calificación hipotecaria Fannie Mae y Freddie Mac, valoradas en unos 30.000 millones de dólares (21.043 millones de euros).

The New York Times señala que la agencia espera obtener una indemnización de 900 millones de dólares (631 millones de euros), la misma cifra que exigió el pasado mes de julio a USB, otra agencia de calificación hipotecaria, en una demanda similar. Las fuentes citadas por el rotativo han explicado que la demanda se presentará antes del miércoles, cuando vence el plazo para presentar reclamaciones a tenor de las citaciones enviadas hace un año por la agencia a estos bancos. De forma paralela, medio centenar de fiscales generales estadounidenses preparan una demanda contra varias entidades financieras -entre ellas Bank of America, JP Morgan y Citigroup- por los abusos cometidos con las hipotecas. Con ello esperan obtener 20.000 millones de dólares (14.029 millones de euros) que destinarán a pagar parte de las hipotecas en riesgo de ejecución.

En ejpañol, para los no convencidos del "de inglis is isi" .

if, if, between between

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Ejemplo de libro de cortina de humo.

La popularidad de Obama está por los suelos y sus seguidores completamente decepcionados con él. Suena a la típica acción que podría generar titulares y galvanizar a su base electoral "vamos a darle su merecido a los tiburones de Wall Street"

Si llega a presentarse dicha demanda acabará en nada, algún acuerdo por el que pagan una multa (que le cobrarán al Gobierno por triplicado por otras vías), desestimada o siendo absueltos por falta de pruebas concluyentes.

Antes teníamos pan y circo. Nos quitaron el pan. Y Obama pretende darnos algo de circo.

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But privately, financial service industry executives argue that the losses on the mortgage-backed securities were caused by a broader downturn in the economy and the housing market, not by how the mortgages were originated or packaged into securities.

Para que luego nos creamos que en EEUU no existe la demagogia y el descaro más absoluto como aquí. "Yo vendía mierda pero si el chiringuito no se hubiera caído no hubiera pasado nada." No te jode...

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