Tag Archives: Citigroup

Connecticut attorney general George Jepsen announced Friday that programs of benefits resulting from a $25 billion mortgage foreclosure servicing settlement are moving forward in the state. Out of Connecticut's $190 million share of the settlement funds, an estimated $119 million is going into loan modifications. The banks have also agreed to provide $36 million in refinancing to Connecticut borrowers whose homes are worth less than their mortgages. Furthermore, they agreed to provide cash payments of about $1,500 to an estimated 7,500 borrowers in the state who experienced loan servicing abuses and lost their homes to foreclosure between the start of 2008 and the end of 2011.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced Tuesday that it has fined Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., $3.5 million for providing inaccurate mortgage perform information, among other violations. This inaccurate data may have led investors to make faulty decisions, FINRA said. FINRA found that Citigroup posted inaccurate mortgage performance data on its website from January 2006 to October 2007. This information stayed up until May 2012 despite reason to believe the data might not be accurate. Citigroup was informed several times that the posted information was faulty, but it did not fix the problem until May this year.

Parties to the landmark mortgage servicing settlement appointed one man to oversee $25 billion in compliance. In an interview with DS News, Joseph A. Smith, onetime banking commissioner for North Carolina and ex-nominee to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, lays out the role he envisions playing as he monitors funds for homeowners, states, and the federal government. The settlement monitor speaks with an understated tone about his stewardship of the historic settlement, which 49 state attorneys general and federal officials completed in February.

After failing to meet requirements established by the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), which requires U.S. banks to detect and prevent money laundering, Citibank entered into a consent order with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Thursday. The order requires the Citibank to take corrective actions after finding that it had deficiencies in its BSA compliance program with respect to having adequate protections against money laundering and filing suspicious activity reports.

In an effort to create a program to empower minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs), Citi and the Foundation for Small Business Development joined Karen G. Mills, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Association, to launch the Partnership for Small Business Development.

Oklahoma residents seeking restitution under the state's mortgage settlement with the nation's largest mortgage servicers must apply for benefits by September 13, 2012. The agreement between Attorney General Scott Pruitt and Bank of America, Citigroup, Ally's GMAC, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo gives the state $18.6 million, all of which will be used to compensate residents wronged in the foreclosure process. Under the nationwide settlement, Oklahoma would have received an estimated $10.2 million, and most of it would have been ""paid"" in the form of credits for loss mitigation activities fulfilled by the servicers.

If extremely severe economic conditions were to fall upon the U.S., 15 of the 19 banks tested by the Fed's stress scenario projections are said to be able to survive and continue to lend. The hypothetical stressful scenario included a 13 percent unemployment rate, 50 percent decline in equity prices, and a 20 percent decline in home prices. The scenario covers nine quarters into the fourth quarter of 2013, and the four banks that failed - Ally Financial, Citigroup, SunTrust, and MetLife - were said to have one or more projected regulatory capital ratios that fell below the 5 percent minimum levels at some point over the stress scenario horizon, according to the Fed.

Treasury says servicers participating in the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) are getting better at evaluating homeowners for eligibility. Its latest performance assessment found no company in need of ""substantial improvement."" OneWest Bank and Select Portfolio Servicing performed at the highest level, needing only minor improvement. As part of the $25 billion settlement announced last month, Treasury has agreed to release incentives previously withheld from Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.

Treasury is heading to the coastal cities of Miami and Tampa, Florida, this week in order to offer assistance to homeowners struggling with their mortgage payments. Treasury will host a ""Help for Homeowners"" outreach event in each of the hard-hit Florida cities where homeowners can meet one-on-one with their servicers. Before the homeowners arrive, though, Treasury has blocked off time for real estate professionals to meet with the servicers on behalf of their clients and to participate in short sale workshops led by the servicers themselves.

CitiMortgage, a subsidiary of CitiBank, agreed to pay $158.3 million due to claims that the bank failed to comply with HUD and FHA requirements in underwriting loans for federal insurance, and for stating certain loans were eligible for FHA's mortgage insurance program when they were not. As a result of these actions, HUD incurred losses from defaulted loans that should not have been approved. CitiMortgage accepted responsibility for specific actions including failing to conduct a full review of certain loans it endorsed.