Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Morgan Stanley to pay $1.25 billion to resolve mortgage lawsuit

Morgan Stanley to pay $1.25 billion to resolve mortgage lawsuit | Reuters

"Morgan Stanley said it would pay $1.25 billion to the U.S. regulator
for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to settle a lawsuit related to the sale
of mortgage-backed securities.



The Wall Street bank will add
$150 million to its legal reserves as a result of the settlement with
the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Morgan Stanley disclosed in a
regulatory filing on Tuesday"

"The FHFA in January said it had recouped
nearly $8 billion through settlements with financial institutions it
sued in 2011 over allegedly false and misleading statements relating to
some $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities sold to Fannie and
Freddie.

The housing authority commenced lawsuits against 18 financial institutions in 2011.

Last December, Deutsche Bank said it would pay $1.9 billion to settle claims, while Citigroup paid $250 million."



JPMorgan to pay $614 mln in U.S. mortgage fraud case

JPMorgan to pay $614 mln in U.S. mortgage fraud case | Reuters

"JPMorgan Chase & Co
settled the latest in a string of legal claims on Tuesday when
it agreed to pay $614 million to the U.S. government and
admitted that it defrauded federal agencies by underwriting
sub-standard mortgage loans.

JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, said as part of
the settlement that for more than a decade it approved thousands
of insured loans that were not eligible for insurance by the
Federal Housing Administration or the Department of Veterans
Affairs, according to court papers.

As a consequence, "both the FHA and the VA incurred
substantial losses when unqualified loans failed and caused the
FHA and VA to cover the associated losses," the U.S. Justice
Department said in a statement.

JPMorgan is one of several banks that has faced similar
allegations. Citigroup Inc and Deutsche Bank AG
have also reached settlements, while the Justice Department is
seeking $2.1 billion in penalties from Bank of America Corp
after a jury found the bank liable for fraud over
mortgages sold by its Countrywide unit.

Last year, JPMorgan agreed to about $20 billion in
settlements in its drive to clear up legal claims. The deals
covered claims over other mortgage issues, as well as
derivatives and power trading."

Monday, February 03, 2014

Net worth of billionaire community up 12-fold in 15 yrs in India: IMF

Net worth of billionaire community up 12-fold in 15 yrs in India: IMF - Hindustan Times:

"Citing countries like the US and India, the two largest democratic countries, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christen Lagarde has said that income inequality is increasing dangerously globally.

"In India, the net worth of the billionaire community increased twelve-fold in 15 years, enough to eliminate absolute poverty in this country twice over," said Lagarde delivering the Richard Dimbleby Lecture in London, according to the copy of the speech made available by the IMF."