Category Archives: investors

BREAKING: BoNY-BofA Settlement to Return to State Court After Second Circuit Reverses Pauley

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Isaac Gradman

Some rare good news for Bank of America: the Second Circuit just reversed the ruling of District Court Judge William Pauley in the highly-publicized $8.5 billion settlement between BofA, Bank of New York (BoNY), and Kathy Patrick’s institutional investors over … Continue reading →

Posted in appeals, Attorneys General, Bank of New York, banks, BofA, bondholder actions, CAFA, class actions, contract rights, discovery, fiduciary duties, global settlement, investors, Judicial Opinions, jurisdiction, lawsuits, liabilities, litigation, MBS, pooling agreements, private label MBS, procedural hurdles, putbacks, remand, removability, rep and warranty, repurchase, RMBS, securities, securitization, settlements, Trustees | 3 Comments

The Inside Story on PIMCO’s Defection from ASF

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Isaac Gradman

As first reported by Bloomberg yesterday, bond king Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO) has quit the American Securitization Forum (ASF) after the trade group refused to issue a statement reflecting investors’ views of the announced settlement between the five largest … Continue reading →

Posted in allocation of loss, ASF, Attorneys General, banks, Bloomberg, conflicts of interest, contract rights, global settlement, incentives, investors, junior liens, loan modifications, lobbying, mark-to-market accounting, MBS, PIMCO, pooling agreements, private label MBS, securitization, servicers, The Subprime Shakeout, Way Too Big to Fail, William Frey | 1 Comment

Is Foreclosure Settlement Déjà Vu All Over Again?

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Isaac Gradman

Today, the Attorneys General of 49 states (with Oklahoma being the lone holdout) announced a record $26 billion settlement with the nation’s five largest servicers over false and fraudulent foreclosure practices like robosigning.  That big number looks great on paper, … Continue reading →

Posted in allocation of loss, Attorneys General, bailout, banks, BofA, consitutionality, contract rights, costs of the crisis, Countrywide, education, foreclosure crisis, global settlement, Government bailout, Greenwich Financial Services, Helping Families Save Homes, homeowner relief, improper documentation, incentives, investigations, investors, irresponsible lending, junior liens, lenders, liabilities, loan modifications, lobbying, MBS, media coverage, moral hazard, mortgage market, predatory lending, press, private label MBS, probes, public perceptions, Regulators, RMBS, robo-signers, securitization, Servicer Safe Harbor, servicers, settlements, sophistication, subprime, Takings Clause, The Subprime Shakeout, Way Too Big to Fail, William Frey, workouts | 13 Comments

Federal Judge in Goldman Sachs MBS Suit Grants Class Action Status to All Bondholders in Trust

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Isaac Gradman

This just in: the Hon. Harold Baer, Jr. of the Southern District of New York has certified a class of bondholders in Goldman Sachs MBS Trust 2006-S2 led by the Mississippi Public Employees Retirement Fund.  Included in the class are … Continue reading →

Posted in bondholder actions, class actions, Goldman Sachs, investors, irresponsible lending, Judge Harold Baer, Judicial Opinions, lawsuits, lending guidelines, litigation, MBS, private label MBS, Residential Capital, RMBS, securities, securities laws, securitization, sellers and sponsors, sophistication, standing, underwriting guidelines, underwriting practices, Wall St. | Leave a comment

BlackRock Attorney to Face Stiffer Challenges to Next Set of MBS Settlements

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Isaac Gradman

(Updated version, including new 6th paragraph on subsequent announcement of larger probe into Morgan Stanley bonds) Having received copious kudos for engineering an $8.5 billion investor settlement with Bank of America over soured Countrywide residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS), “pitbull” … Continue reading →

Posted in Allstate, appeals, Attorneys General, Bank of New York, banks, BlackRock, BofA, bondholder actions, conflicts of interest, contract rights, Countrywide, emc, Event of Default, Federal Home Loan Banks, FHFA, global settlement, hedge funds, Investor Syndicate, investors, JPMorgan, jurisdiction, Kathy Patrick, lawsuits, lenders, liabilities, litigation, MBIA, MBS, Morgan Stanley, Philippe Selendy, press, private label MBS, putbacks, quinn emanuel, Regulators, remand, removability, rep and warranty, repurchase, RMBS, securities, securitization, settlements, standing, toxic assets, Wall St., Wells Fargo | 7 Comments

MBIA Celebrates Bransten Decision on Loss Causation; Bondholders Still Looking for Guidance

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Isaac Gradman

As loyal readers will recall, I laid it on the line a few weeks back and predicted that MBIA would win its loss causation argument against Countrywide/BofA, making the nation’s largest bank wish it had settled this bellwether piece of … Continue reading →

Posted in appeals, banks, BofA, bondholder actions, broader credit crisis, causes of the crisis, contract rights, damages, investors, Judge Jed Rakoff, Judicial Opinions, lawsuits, liabilities, litigation, loss causation, MBIA, MBS, misrespresentation, monoline actions, monolines, pooling agreements, private label MBS, putbacks, rep and warranty, repurchase, rescission, RMBS, securitization, statistical sampling, The Subprime Shakeout | 5 Comments

Federal Home Loan Bank Litigation Update: MBS Cases Moving Slowly, But Steadily, Ahead for FHLBs

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Isaac Gradman

By Isaac Gradman and India Autry The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) litigation against MBS underwriters, some of the first to arise out of the sale of toxic mortgage backed securities post-crisis, is progressing slowly but surely towards trial, without … Continue reading →

Posted in banks, Blue Sky laws, choice of law, discovery, Federal Home Loan Banks, investors, lawsuits, litigation, loan files, LTV, MBS, misrespresentation, motions to dismiss, ratings agencies, remand, removability, securities fraud, securities laws, securitization, sophistication, subprime, underwriting guidelines, underwriting practices | 8 Comments

Rakoff’s Rejection of SEC Settlement with Citi Sends Stern Message to Wall Street’s Primary Regulator

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Isaac Gradman

Two days after the release of one of the most scathing judicial opinions in recent memory, the importance of federal Judge Jed Rakoff’s rejection of the SEC’s $285 million settlement with Citigroup is just beginning to sink in.  In just … Continue reading →

Posted in abacus, banks, CDOs, Citigroup, Complaints, consitutionality, costs of the crisis, damages, Goldman Sachs, investigations, investors, JPMorgan, Judge Jed Rakoff, Judicial Opinions, lawsuits, liabilities, litigation, media coverage, negligence and recklessness, oversight, Paulson and Co., probes, regulation, Regulators, SEC, securities laws, settlements, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

WTBTF Book Tour Day 2: Meeting, Marketing and Mentoring in Manhattan

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Isaac Gradman

I woke Tuesday morning, Nov. 8 on the second day of the Way Too Big to Fail book tour to the news that Kathy Patrick, legal architect of Bank of America’s Hail Mary Countrywide settlement (background here and here), had … Continue reading →

Posted in BlackRock, Bloomberg, BofA, book tour, Countrywide, foreclosure rate, Fox News, Greenwich Financial Services, investors, Kathy Patrick, litigation, loan modifications, loss causation, MBIA, MBS, media coverage, Morgan Stanley, mortgage market, MSNBC, PIMCO, Presentations, Regulators, The Subprime Shakeout, Uncategorized, Way Too Big to Fail, William Frey | Leave a comment

Release of “Way Too Big to Fail” Simply Opening Salvo in Efforts to Reform Mortgage Finance

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Isaac Gradman

It’s tempting when you have an enormous task before you to focus all of your attention on completing that task while blocking out any thoughts of what comes next.  For me, that enormous task has been the publication of a … Continue reading →

Posted in allocation of loss, appeals, Bank of New York, banks, BofA, bondholder actions, causes of the crisis, contract rights, Countrywide, discovery, FHFA, global settlement, investors, irresponsible lending, lawsuits, liabilities, litigation, lobbying, loss causation, MBIA, monoline actions, mortgage market, pooling agreements, private label MBS, putbacks, regulation, Regulators, remand, repurchase, RMBS, securitization, settlements, statistical sampling, successor liability, The Subprime Shakeout, Uncategorized, Way Too Big to Fail, William Frey | 1 Comment