Call it boredom. In the middle of last month, I decided to create a full and final accounting of Bank of America's (BAC 1.53%) 41 misdeeds since the financial crisis -- or, at least, those that were publically disclosed by the bank, one of its subsidiaries, or a legal adversary.
The accounting, which is included below, details a laundry list of ignominious allegations -- none of which, of course, the bank admitted or denied.
The charges include wrongfully foreclosing on active-duty servicemembers, misleading customers about the safety of depository products, failing to disclose material facts to shareholders about mergers and acquisitions, discriminating against women and minorities, colluding with competitors to force credit card customers into impartial arbitration, surreptitiously rearranging debt card charges to maximize overdraft fees, and selling toxic mortgages and mortgage-backed securities to institutional investors in the lead up to the financial crisis.
And this is only to name a few. Indeed, one would be excused for concluding that the only people Bank of America (or one of its subsidiaries) didn't exploit were white men that held senior positions at the bank -- and, for the record, these individuals have done quite well for themselves.
Thus, without further ado, here's the list:
Date |
Description |
Amount |
---|---|---|
Oct. 2008 |
Countrywide settles with eleven states over predatory lending allegations including, relaxing underwriting standards, structuring loans with risky features, and misleading consumers with hidden fees and fake marketing claims like its "no closing costs loan." |
$8.4 billion in "direct loan relief." At the time, "it was the largest predatory lending settlement in history, far exceeding the $484 million deal struck in 2002 with the Household Finance Corporation." |
Jan. 2009 |
Merrill Lynch settles securities fraud case with institutional investors in its common and preferred shares between Oct. 17, 2006 and Dec. 31, 2008. The plaintiffs alleged that the investment bank inflated the price of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) in order to boost its own share price. |
$475 million |
Jun. 2009 |
Bank of America finalizes settlement with SEC and several states over alleged misrepresentations that the bank made to customers about the safety and liquidity of auction-rate securities. |
$4.5 billion in "restored liquidity" to the ARS market |
Jul. 2009 |
Bank of America settles racial discrimination class action accusing it of "routinely giving black workers short shrift with respect to pay, advancement and resources." |
$7.2 million |
Feb. 2010 |
Bank of America finalizes settlement with the SEC over its failure to "properly disclose employee bonuses and financial losses at Merrill Lynch before shareholders approved the merger of the companies in December 2008." |
$150 million |
May 2010 |
Countrywide settles class action securities fraud claims made by institutional investors, including New York pension funds, alleging that the lender misled them about its health. The settlement was approved by judge in February of 2011. |
$600 million |
Jun. 2010 |
Countrywide settles with the FTC over allegations that it overcharged customers who were struggling to hang onto their homes. |
$108 million |
Jul. 2010 |
Bank of America settles class action antitrust claims regarding credit card arbitration. |
$0 (injunctive relief) |
Oct. 2010 |
Bank of America covers part of former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo's $67.5 million civil fraud settlement with the SEC. |
$20 million |
Nov. 2010 |
Countrywide settles class action lawsuit related to overcharging for mortgage insurance in violation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA). Approved by a judge in July 2011. |
$34 million |
Dec. 2010 |
Bank of America settles with 19 state attorneys general and four federal agencies over bid-rigging charges in the muni-bond market. |
$137 million |
Jan. 2011 |
Deal with Fannie Mae to settle claims on 12,045 Countrywide loans in the period 2004-2008. |
$1.52 billion |
Jan. 2011 |
Deal with Freddie Mac to "end all claims, including future claims, related to mortgages sold through 2008 by Countrywide." |
$1.28 billion |
Jan. 2011 |
Bank of America settles class action debit-card overdraft lawsuit. Here's how one plaintiff described it: "The bank actively provides false or misleading balance information to these customers, including plaintiff, that in turn deceives these customers into making additional transactions that, in turn, will generate even more overdraft fees for the bank." Approved by judge in Nov. 2011. |
$410 million |
Feb. 2011 |
Bank of America settles class action lawsuit claiming that it "improperly increased the interest rate on delinquent or defaulted FIA, MBNA and Bank of America credit cards by calculating the rate increase starting at the beginning of the billing cycle in which the default or delinquency occurred." |
$10 million |
April 2011 |
Countrywide settles with mortgage-bond insurer Assured Guaranty over toxic Countrywide-issued mortgage-backed securities. |
$1.6 billion |
May 2011 |
Countrywide settles with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations that Countrywide "wrongfully foreclosed upon active duty servicemembers without first obtaining court orders." |
$20 million |
Jun. 2011 |
Countrywide reaches preliminary $8.5 billion settlement with The Bank of New York Mellon and 22 institutional investors (including Goldman Sachs and BlackRock) over toxic mortgage-backed securities issued. Approval of this deal is currently pending before a judge in New York. |
$8.5 billion |
Aug. 2011 |
Bank of America settlement with the City of San Francisco over allegations that the bank's FIA Card Services used a rigged system to arbitrate credit card debt collection disputes. |
$5 million |
Dec. 2011 |
Settlement of class action suit against Merrill Lynch brought by investors alleging that the investment bank misled them about the risks associated with $16.5 billion of mortgage-backed securities in 18 offerings made between 2006 and 2007. |
$315 million |
Dec. 2011 |
Settlement of U.S. Justice Department charges that Countrywide carried out a "widespread pattern or practice of discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers." |
$335 million |
Feb. 2012 |
Bank of America settlement with federal and state regulators and agencies related to faulty foreclosure and servicing practices. |
$11.82 billion ($3.2 billion in federal and state payments, $8.58 billion in relief to borrowers) |
Jul. 2012 |
Settlement with Syncora Holdings regarding claims that the mortgage-bond insurer was duped into insuring Countrywide-issued mortgage-backed securities. |
$375 million |
Jul. 2012 |
Bank of America settlement of class action lawsuit alleging that the bank "used deceptive marketing tactics to sign up and charge credit card customers for a useless credit-protection service." |
$20 million |
Sept. 2012 |
Bank of America settlement of class action lawsuit brought by B of A's shareholders alleging that the bank provided "false and misleading statements about the health of" Merrill Lynch in the lead up to the acquisition. The deal was approved by a judge in April of 2013. |
$2.43 billion |
Jan. 2013 |
Settlement with Fannie Mae resolving claims that Bank of America (mostly Countrywide) sold tens of billions of dollars' worth of faulty mortgages to the government-sponsored entity. |
$11.2 billion |
Jan. 2013 |
On the same day as the Fannie Mae settlement, Bank of America joined with nine other lenders to resolve claims of foreclosure abuse related to the financial crisis. The aggregate settlement for all participants was $8.5 billion. |
$2.9 billion |
Feb. 2013 |
Settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit alleging that Bank of America violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act by failing to respond to mortgagees' requests for information relating to the servicing of their home loans. |
$19 million |
Feb. 2013 |
Settlement to resolve allegations that Merrill Lynch failed to pay proper overtime to its client associates. |
$12 million |
April 2013 |
Bank of America settlement with the National Credit Union Administration to resolve claims stemming from sales of mortgage-backed securities to corporate credit unions that led them to fail. |
$165 million |
April 2013 |
Settlement with private investors in a class action lawsuit involving Countrywide-issued mortgage-backed securities. |
$500 million |
May 2013 |
Settlement to resolve claims brought by mortgage-bond insurer MBIA (MBI -1.14%) related primarily to toxic mortgages originated mainly by Countrywide. |
$1.7 billion |
Jun. 2013 |
Fined by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority after an investigation found that Bank of America's brokers steered retail investors toward a type of mutual fund that was riskier than what they were seeking. |
$2 million |
Jun. 2013 |
Settlement to resolve claims that Countrywide "deceptively lured consumers into buying loans with higher interest rates than originally promised." |
$100 million |
Aug. 2013 |
Settlement to resolve a class action racial discrimination lawsuit alleging that Merrill Lynch segregated its workforce by, among other things, steering black brokers into clerical positions and reassigning their accounts to white workers. |
$160 million |
Sept. 2013 |
Merrill Lynch settlement to resolve a class action gender discrimination lawsuit brought by female brokers alleging they were "paid less than men and deprived of handling their fair share of lucrative accounts." |
$39 million |
Sept. 2013 |
Bank of America fined by U.S. Department of Labor for hiring practices that kept qualified black job applicants from getting jobs. |
$2.2 million |
Sept. 2013 |
Settlement to resolve claims that Bank of America employees made harassing debt collection calls to customers' cell phones in violation of the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act. |
$32 million |
Oct. 2013 |
Found liable for fraud over defective mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as a part of a shoddy home loan process at Countrywide known as the "Hustle." |
$850 million (the court has yet to rule on damages, but this is roughly what the government is seeking) |
Dec. 2013 |
Countrywide settlement with Freddie Mac related to faulty mortgages sold to the government-sponsored entity from 2000 to 2009. |
$404 million |
Dec. 2013 |
Merrill Lynch settlement with the Securities & Exchange Commission related to the structuring and sale of complex mortgage securities to institutional investors in 2006 and 2007. |
$131.8 million |