At least nine banks face investigations by the US Department of Justice into sales of mortgage-backed securities as part of an effort by the taskforce that reached the $13bn pact with JPMorgan Chase, people familiar with the matter say.
The investigations, which span US attorney’s offices from California to Massachusetts, include the largest banks that underwrote and sold residential mortgage-backed securities. They include Bank of America, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, Wells Fargo.
Most of the enquiries are looking for civil violations for allegedly misleading buyers of RMBS, not criminal sanctions. It is not clear how many, if any, will result in lawsuits or settlements.