U.S. Mortgage Task Force May Act Soon

By Brian Browdie September 21, 2012, 9:28 a.m. EDT 1 Min Read

Law and regulation

Banks May Need to Invite in Mortgage Abuse Task Force

Rather than wait for government or plaintiff lawyers to find them, banks that were involved in the syndication of mortgage backed securities should control their exposure through a proactive, rigorous self-study program.

February 14

A task force formed to probe misconduct in the mortgage market during the run-up to the financial crisis may be getting ready to take action.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who co-chairs the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group, said his office would pursue people who broke the law in the packaging and sale of securitized products, Reuters reported Thursday.

Schneiderman added he expects his federal counterparts to do the same.

The Justice Department established the group in January.

"This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans," President Obama told Congress in his State of the Union address.

Assistant U.S. attorneys general Lanny Breuer and Stuart Delery, U.S. Attorney for Colorado John Walsh and the Securities Exchange Commission's enforcement director, Robert Khuzami, serve with Schneiderman as co-chairs.

The task force oversees the work of more than 100 investigators, lawyers and analysts at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the FBI, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Justice and the New York attorney general's office.

Brian Browdie

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