CEO Angelo Mozilo

Countrywide’s Former Chief In Settlement Of Fraud CaseAngelo R. Mozilo, the founder and former chief executive of Countrywide Financial, once the nation’s largest mortgage lender, agreed to pay $67.5 million Friday to settle a civil fraud case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission last year. The settlement came just days before the case against Mr. Mozilo and two former colleagues was scheduled to go to trial before a jury in Los Angeles. The two colleagues settled their cases...Read Full Story

JPMorgan CEO: Foreclosure probes may hurt housing – By James B. Kelleher – (Reuters) – … "It may slow it down," he said. "But we’re hoping it won’t kill it." … – Yahoo News Testimony won’t stop foreclosures at Wells Fargo - By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer – Wells Fargo & Co. does not plan to halt foreclosures despite an employee’s testimony that she signed up to 500 foreclosure documents daily without reading them. – Yahoo News ———— Mortgage Mess May Cost Big Banks Billions - By...Read Full Story

(link to paper) The Role of Flippers in the Housing Market – …  Using a unique micro-level dataset of housing transactions in Los Angeles from 1988-2008 and a novel research design, researchers Patrick Bayer, Christopher Geissler and James W. Roberts identify and measure the importance of two very distinct types of intermediaries, also known as "flippers." The first type act as middlemen … The second type act as speculators … the first pieces of evidence from the housing market to a growing...Read Full Story

Angelo Mozilo, The former head of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial was once among the highest paid CEOs in the United States. But on Friday, agreed to settle fraud charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to see pay a record fine and 67.5 million – the highest for a public company executive. The son of a Bronx butcher who embodied a rags to-riches success story, Mozilo became the burned face of the mortgage crisis in the subprime crisis emerged in 2007. Mozilo was...Read Full Story

LOS ANGELES/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Former Countrywide chief Angelo Mozilo agreed to a settlement of $67.5 million to resolve charges that he duped the home loan company's investors while reaping a personal windfall, but Bank of America will pick up two-thirds of the bill.Mozilo, poster boy of the subprime mortgage market's boom and bust, reached a last-minute deal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission before his trial on civil fraud charges was to start on Tuesday.The most...Read Full Story

A whistle-blower at Countrywide had uncovered serious wrongdoings within the company, conducting an internal investigation in 2007, finding that forgery of loan documents, manipulation of borrowers assets and income, manipulation of the company’s automated underwriting system and destruction of valid documents have been in place in at least offices of the company in Boston. Countrywide had been forced to close three-quarters of its Boston branches following the investigation, closing 44 jobs...Read Full Story

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two former top State Street Corp. <STT.N> executives were hit with securities fraud charges on Thursday for misleading investors about a risky subprime mortgage-laden fund and tipping off favored clients.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it charged John Flannery, a former member of State Street's executive management group, and James Hopkins, the former head of product engineering for North America.The civil charges come nearly eight months after State...Read Full Story

Angelo Mozilo, co-founder and former CEO of Countrywide Financial, is set to pay one of the largest penalties ever issued, $67.5 million. The penalty is part of a settlement regarding fraud charges for the former executive of the mortgage-lending company Bank of America purchased in 2008. After the settlement was announced, U.S. District Judge John Walter called it “fair and in the public interest,” according to CNNMoney. The judge said, “In my view the proposed settlement is very reasonable...Read Full Story

BIG SETTLEMENT FOR COUNTRYWIDE CO-FOUNDER: Former Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo agreed to a $67.5 million settlement to avoid trial on civil fraud and insider trading charges. Federal regulators had accused him of profiting from doling out risky mortgages while misleading shareholders about the risks.LEADING FIGURE IN MORTGAGE MESS: Mozilo was the highest-profile defendant yet to face federal trial for risky business practices leading to the housing collapse that sent the country...Read Full Story

NEW YORK (By Jonathan Stempel) – Allstate Corp has sued Bank of America Corp, its Countrywide lending unit and 17 other defendants for allegedly misrepresenting the risks on more than $700 million of mortgage securities it bought from Countrywide. Allstate, the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, alleged it suffered “significant losses” after Countrywide misled it into believing the securities were safe, and the quality of home loans backing them was high. The lawsuit also...Read Full Story