Tag Archives: JPMorgan Chase

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) filed its 10th action against a major Wall Street investment firm--this time, the defendant is JPMorgan Securities. NCUA's suit, which was filed in Federal District Court in Kansas, revolves around mortgage-backed securities (MBS) underwritten and sold by Washington Mutual Bank (WaMu), which was acquired by JPMorgan in 2008 following its collapse.

JPMorgan Chase promoted Kevin Watters as CEO of mortgage banking. Watters has been with Chase and its predecessor firms for 13 years. Before becoming CEO of mortgage banking, Watters led mortgage originations and customer experience across mortgage banking, a position he held since 2010.

In a regulatory filing released Thursday, JPMorgan Chase revealed it has reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to resolve claims against itself and Bear Stearns, which it acquired in 2008. According to the filing, JPMorgan ""has reached an agreement in principle with the staff of the SEC to resolve"" claims under investigation by the regulatory agency. The agreement is subject to SEC and court approval.

A U.S. district judge squashed an attempt by JPMorgan Chase to fully dismiss a lawsuit from the Federal Housing Finance Agency over alleged fraud over mortgage-backed securities. In its motion to dismiss, JPMorgan argues that FHFA's complaint does not contain enough factual support that loans were not underwritten properly. Judge Denise Cote disagreed, saying the allegations ""amply support FHFA's assertion that the Offering Documents for the Securitizations contained false statements regarding originators' compliance with underwriting standards.""

The country's largest life insurance provider announced it is selling its mortgage servicing portfolio to one of the country's biggest mortgage servicers. MetLife, Inc., announced an agreement to sell MetLife Bank, N.A.'s mortgage servicing portfolio to JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but MetLife revealed in a statement the portfolio is worth approximately $70 billion. As a result of the purchase, Chase's $1.1 trillion servicing business is expected to grow by more than 5 percent.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) is stepping up and speaking out in defense of JPMorgan Chase, calling the U.S. government's lawsuit against the financial institution a case of ""no good deed goes unpunished."" New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a suit against JPMorgan on October 1 for the alleged misconduct of Bear Stearns & Co. prior to JPMorgan's acquisition of the failing investment bank, and Frank says he has first-hand knowledge that federal officials urged JPMorgan to ""do a good deed"" by taking over an institution which JPMorgan would never have sought to acquire absent that urging.

Less than half of the states' $2.5 billion from the national mortgage servicing settlement is being used for housing initiatives as intended, according to Enterprise Community Partners. It's been six months since a federal judge approved the agreement between the nation's five largest mortgage servicers and state and federal officials, and Enterprise says to date, states have announced housing- and foreclosure-related plans for $966 million of their settlement share; $988 million has been diverted to states' general funds or non-housing uses; and $588 million has yet to be allocated.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has issued the first borrower payments resulting from settlements with the nation's five largest mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure processing. Oklahoma families who were subject to the servicers' ""unfair and deceptive practices ... following the financial crisis,"" can expect to receive their checks soon, Pruitt said. Oklahoma was the only state to craft its own agreement with Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, GMAC/Ally, and Wells Fargo.

Increased mortgage-related revenue pushed both Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase to record quarterly profits in 3Q 2012, the banks reported. JPMorgan posted a record net income of $5.7 billion, with net revenue at $24.9 billion. Wells Fargo reported record net income of $4.9 billion for the quarter, up approximately $800 million from 3Q 2011.

Mortgage applications saw increased activity in the last week of September, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported. Mortgage application volume increased 16.6 percent in the week ending September 28, according to MBA's Mortgage Composite Index. Meanwhile, the Refinance Index increased 20 percent from a week before to its highest recorded level since April 2009.