US appeals court revives FDIC suit against banks over mortgage-backed securities sales News
US appeals court revives FDIC suit against banks over mortgage-backed securities sales

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York [official website] on Wednesday revived [order, PDF] a lawsuit that stems from the 2008 financial crisis. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) [official website] brought suit in 2012 against five defendants: Credit Suisse Group, Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, UBS and HSBC [corporate websites]. The suit was filed on allegations that the banks violated a federal securities law when selling $140.5 million in mortgage-backed securities in 2007 and 2008 to two banks that later failed as a result, Citizens National Bank and Strategic Capital Bank. The court of appeals reversed the March 2015 decision by US District Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who dismissed the case because the FDIC had waited too long to file the claim against the banks. Last week the US Supreme Court [official website] declined to review a case that revived by another panel on the same appellate court in May. The lawsuit was also brought by the FDIC over similar claims. The court held in both cases that federal law passed after the savings and loan crisis in 1989 extended the time period in which the FDIC could sue on behalf of the failed banks.

Several banks have faced legal challenges [JURIST backgrounder] stemming from the financial crisis of 2007-08. Last month Deutsche Bank reached [JURIST report] a $7.2 billion deal with the Department of Justice (DOJ). In September the US National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) [official website] said that the Royal Bank of Scotland Group will pay $1.1 billion [JURIST report] after it allegedly solid toxic mortgaged-backed securities. In February Morgan Stanley [corporate website] agreed to pay $3.2 billion [JURIST report] related to their mortgage-back securities. In July 2014 Citigroup, Inc. agreed to pay $7 billion to settle a federal inquiry [JURIST report] into mortgage-backed securities sold by the bank prior to the country’s financial crisis. In November 2013 the DOJ announced that a $13 billion civil settlement [JURIST report] with JPMorgan Chase & Co. [corporate website] has been finalized, resolving federal and state claims arising from the bank’s risky mortgage practices which helped lead to the 2008 financial crisis. In August 2013 the DOJ filed suit [JURIST report] against Bank of America [corporate website] in the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina [official website], claiming the corporation misled investors about securitized loans worth more than $850 million.