CALIFORNIA
The Justice Department today released the terms of the Goldman Sachs $5 billion settlement in connection with the sale of residential mortgage-backed securities or RMBS from 2005 to 2007.
The settlement is part of a federal and state investigation into Goldman Sachs’ sale of mortgages contributed to a housing bubble and subsequent financial crisis, according to officials.
It is Goldman Sachs’ largest settlement.
“This resolution holds Goldman Sachs accountable for its serious misconduct in falsely assuring investors that securities it sold were backed by sound mortgages, when it knew that they were full of mortgages that were likely to fail,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart F. Delery. “This $5 billion settlement includes a $1.8 billion commitment to help repair the damage to homeowners and communities that Goldman acknowledges resulted from its conduct, and it makes clear that no institution may inflict this type of harm on investors and the American public without serious consequences.”
To read the details of the settlement signed today click here: Goldman Sachs.
The settlement spells out the terms. Goldman will pay $2.385 billion in a civil penalty under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act or FIRREA.
It also requires Goldman Sachs to provide $1.8 billion in other relief homeowners, distressed borrowers and affected communities, in the form of loan forgiveness along with paying for the financing of affordable housing.
Goldman will also pay $875 million to resolve federal and state claims.
“Today’s settlement is yet another acknowledgment by one of our leading financial institutions that it did not live up to the representations it made to investors about the products it was selling,” said U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner of California.
Adding, “Goldman’s conduct in exploiting the RMBS market contributed to an international financial crisis that people across the country, including many in the Eastern District of California, continue to struggle to recover from. I am gratified that this office has developed investigations, first against JPMorgan Chase and now against Goldman Sachs, that have led to significant civil settlements that hold bad actors in this market accountable. The results obtained by this office and other members of the RMBS Working Group continue to send a message to Wall Street that we remain committed to pursuing those responsible for the financial crisis.”
The settlement includes a statement of facts to which Goldman has agreed. It describes how Goldman made false and misleading representations to prospective investors about the “characteristics of the loans it securitized and the ways in which Goldman would protect investors” from harm.
To read the Statement of Facts in this case click here: Justice Department
“Goldman took $10 billion in TARP bailout funds knowing that it had fraudulently misrepresented to investors the quality of residential mortgages bundled into mortgage backed securities,” said Special Inspector General Christy Goldsmith Romero for TARP. “Many of these toxic securities were traded in a taxpayer funded bailout program that was designed to unlock frozen credit markets during the crisis. While crisis investigations take time, SIGTARP is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to protect taxpayers and bring accountability and justice.”
In a prepared statement earlier this year, Goldman Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein said they were “pleased to have reached an agreement” and resolve the civil matter.
“Today’s settlement is another example of the department’s resolve to hold accountable those whose illegal conduct resulted in the financial crisis of 2008,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Viewed in conjunction with the previous multibillion-dollar recoveries that the department has obtained for similar conduct, this settlement demonstrates the pervasiveness of the banking industry’s fraudulent practices in selling RMBS, and the power of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act as a tool for combatting this type of wrongdoing.”