NY AG Tacks On Three More Banksters To Target List In Mortgage Securitization Probe; Tags Four Bond Insurers With Subpoenas

Bloomberg reports:

• JPMorgan Chase & Co., UBS AG and Deutsche Bank AG are being investigated as part of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s expanded probe of mortgage securitization, according to a person familiar with the matter.
• Four bond insurers also were subpoenaed: Ambac Financial Group Inc., MBIA Inc., Syncora Holdings Ltd. and Assured Guaranty Ltd., according to the person, who couldn’t be identified because the probe isn’t public.
• Schneiderman is seeking information on claims paid out during and after the economic crisis and any information or documents related to litigation or settlements with the banks, according to the person. The expanded investigation was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.
• Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley were already part of the probe, the person said earlier this month. Schneiderman, who took office in January, is examining mortgage practices and the packaging and sale of loans to investors, according to the person. [...] Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc is also one of the companies being investigated by the attorney general, the Financial Times reported.

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• Federal regulators and all 50 state attorneys general are scrutinizing how the biggest U.S. financial firms handle home loans. Last month, as states coordinated settlement talks with banks over foreclosure practices, Schneiderman said that any joint accord shouldn’t preclude individual states, such as New York, from continuing their own inquiries.

For more, see JPMorgan, UBS, Deutsche Bank Said to Be Added to New York Mortgage Probe.