FHFA Suit: Who's on the Hook for How Much?

The numbers here are astounding.  The total amount of the Fannie/Freddie suit against the 17 banks is being pegged at as high as $196 billion (clarification: for total securities sold, not all losses).  If by some fluke this went to court and these banks were forced to pay anything like it, they’d all fail – one after another like dominoes.

Now obviously that isn’t going to happen.  There is an army of pinstriped jackals lawyers manning the ramparts for both sides, the singular aim for all involved is to accomplish two things:

1.  Look like they scored a big win for the shareholders/taxpayers, depending on who they represent

2.  Milk every single billable hour possible so that the blood-feast doesn’t end until it has to

Anyway, Bloomberg‘s got the rundown of who shoveled how much sh*t at Fannie and Freddie over the years in question, ostensibly these are the transactions that the government claims should be “rescinded”…

The FHFA said in its filings that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bought $6 billion in mortgage-backed securities from Bank of America; $24.8 billion from Merrill Lynch, which Bank of America took over in 2008, and $26.6 billion from Countrywide, which Bank of America acquired the same year.

The FHFA claims Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bought $33 billion in securities from JPMorgan and $30.4 billion from Royal Bank of Scotland. According to the complaints, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also bought $14.2 billion from Deutsche Bank, $14.1 billion from Credit Suisse, $11.1 billion from Goldman Sachs, $10.6 billion from Morgan Stanley, $6.2 billion from HSBC, $6 billion from Ally, $4.9 billion from Barclays, $3.5 billion from Citigroup, $2 billion from Nomura, $1.3 billion from Societe Generale, $883 million from First Horizon and $549 million from GE.

Yes, you read that right, B of A is the big loser (for a change), forgetting all their potential liabilities to the states and private companies, the combined Bank of Amerrilwide is facing a $60 billion number here.

Nice.

Source:

BofA, JPMorgan Among 17 Banks Sued by U.S. for $196 Billion (Bloomberg)

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