U.S. prosecutors are seeking more than $13 billion from Bank of America Corp. to resolve federal and state probes into the lender’s sale of bonds backed by home loans in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, according to people familiar with the matter.
The settlement would come on top of the $9.5 billion the bank agreed last month to pay to resolve Federal Housing Finance Agency claims, said two people who asked not to be named because the negotiations are private. An agreement could come within the next two months, the people said.
If the Justice Department gets its way, the case against Bank of America will eclipse JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s record $13 billion global settlement over similar issues in November. That settlement, which included a $4 billion agreement with the FHFA, encompassed loans JPMorgan took over with its purchases of Washington Mutual Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos.
Bank of America, the second-biggest U.S. lender, is among at least eight banks under investigation by the Justice Department and state attorneys general for misleading investors about the quality of bonds backed by residential mortgages amid a drop in housing prices. Many of the loans in question were inherited by Bank of America when it purchased subprime-lender Countrywide Financial Corp. and Merrill Lynch & Co., the people said.
Bank of America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, hasn’t specified how much money it has set aside for the case. The bank said April 16 that it increased reserves for mortgage-related matters by $2.4 billion.
Lawrence Grayson, a Bank of America spokesman, declined to comment on the negotiations. Ellen Canale, a Justice Department spokeswoman, declined immediate comment.
