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What: Shares of mortgage insurer Pacific Capital Bancorp
So what: Much of the banking industry was down significantly today because investors are finally beginning to notice the sloppy paperwork and fraud that may be at the heart of the foreclosure mess. Bank of America
Add to all this the notice that Pacific received yesterday from Nasdaq warning of a possible delisting, and you can see why investors weren't too keen on Pacific today.
Now what: This is an uncomfortable situation for a lot of banks. While a national foreclosure moratorium may not be in the offing as federal regulators seem to be pushing instead for better documentation, heat at the state level, bad PR, and the lack of legitimate documentation are going to be a pain for banks caught up in the mess.
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