Bank of America, which bought subprime loan leader Countrywide Financial in 2008, has paid more to regulators for mortgage misdeeds than all the other big banks combined, the latest tally shows.
CEO Brian Moynihan’s bank has paid north of $70 billion for credit and mortgage-related settlements since 2010, more than half of the roughly $128 billion collected from the six biggest banks, according to research from SNL Financial released Wednesday.
The total tab for all the firms is about twice the $76 billion of profits the big banks made last year, according to data from Bloomberg.
BofA’s latest settlement over soured mortgage-backed securities — a $16.7 billion deal with federal and state governments — was the largest Uncle Sam has levied against a single company.
While the Charlotte, NC-based bank sold a relatively small number of the securities that ended up going bust, its acquisition of Countrywide and broker Merrill Lynch during the worst days of the downturn saddled BofA with a much bigger tab.
A day after BofA’s record fine, Goldman Sachs announced an agreement over the sale of mortgage-backed securities to government-sponsored lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The stream of restitution isn’t likely to end any time, either. Goldman and Wells Fargoa are reportedly nearing other big settlements with regulators.
JPMorgan Chase, which had the second-largest settlement with the government of $13 billion, has paid more than $22 billion in mortgage-related penalties, SNL research shows.
SNL’s report zeroed in on the financial crisis and excluded other big-ticket penalties, including the $9 billion BNP Paribas paid for money laundering in countries like Sudan or the $2.6 billion Credit Suisse paid for aiding tax cheats.