Nearly three years after the financial crisis, the first sanctions against the banks fall. And the bill would be particularly salty for Bank of America. Concordant sources, the U.S. bank would have agreed to pay $ 8.5 billion to end the prosecution of several investors. This would involve the agreement of compensation the largest ever signed by a bank in the United States.
Admittedly, the stakes are also unpublished. The Wall Street as investors Journalrapporte particularly experienced such a number of asset management, BlackRock, the insurer MetLife or the Federal Reserve (Fed) of New York complain about the conditions of sale of so-called "subprime," these products complex financial risk that formed the heart of the Great Depression of 2008.Symbol of a finance gone mad, these "subprime" were associated with variable rate mortgages granted to families with poor credit. Their value plummeted after the collapse of the U.S. housing bubble, which caused a series of foreclosures and debt of thousands of homes.
These individuals will not receive the compensation that Bank of America has agreed to pay. Indeed, they are used only for investors who are customers of Countrywide Financial, now a subsidiary of Bank of America in January 2008. The specialist mortgage lending in the United States had sold to investors of financial products like subprime for an initial value of $ 105 billion accompanied by guarantees on the composition of their portfolios.But soon after, with the bursting of the housing bubble in the U.S., these investments have proved extremely risky, losing most of their value. Investors who bought these financial products from Countrywide Financial believe to have been cheated, since the original contractual terms have not been met.
The case could set a precedent
Bank of America for months trying to resolve this embarrassing litigation, inherited directly from the acquisition of Countrywide Financial. But until now the CEO of Bank of America, serving for a year and a half, has refused to pay for past investments, arguing that investors had acted knowingly.By agreeing now to pay the full price, so it gives a signal again, and strong.
This case may give ideas to other investors who lost big in the collapse of the "subprime". Thus, other banks like Wells Fargo or JPMorgan could also be directly affected by requests for compensation.
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