After markets closed on Friday the 13th, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") announced an $864 million settlement regarding Moody's credit ratings of residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS") and collateralized debt obligations ("CDOs") leading up to the financial crisis.
Moody's will pay a $437.5 civil penalty to DOJ to resolve civil FIRREA claims and another $426.3 million to resolve potential claims by 21 State Attorneys General. The agreement also requires Moody's to implement additional compliance measures.
Moody's release said the settlement "removes ...
Maybe I'm just getting a head start on my "bah humbug" mood for the holidays, I don't know. Did it strike anyone else as discordant that almost a third of the record-setting JPMorgan RMBS settlement was ear-marked to fund "affordable housing / erase urban blight" policy initiatives? Is it right to fund the Administration's social policies through the settlement of civil litigation brought by DOJ? On November 19th, the Justice Department and various state AG's (among others) announced a $13Bn global settlement -- "the largest settlement with a single entity in American history" -- of ...