This is the last article you can read this month
You can read more article this month
You can read more articles this month
Sorry your limit is up for this month
Reset on:
Please help support the Morning Star by subscribing here
Transnational bank HSBC will pay $550 million (£338m) to resolve claims that it misled US finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about risky mortgage securities it sold them ahead of 2007’s housing market collapse.
The US Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees the two quasi-governmental bodies, announced the settlement with HSBC on Friday.
London-based HSBC is Europe’s largest bank and also has extensive operations in the US.
Under the settlement, HSBC is paying $176m (£108m) to Fannie Mae and $374m (£230m) to Freddie Mac.
The government rescued the companies at the height of the financial crisis in September 2008 when they were on the verge of collapse.
The tottering companies received taxpayer aid totalling $187 billion (£114bn).
The housing agency sued 18 financial institutions in 2011 over their sales of mortgage securities to the firms.
It has now reached settlements with all but two of the offending bodies.
