Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse to pay multimillion-dollar fines

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has slapped Credit Suisse Securities (USA) and Merrill Lynch with multimillion-dollar fines for misrepresenting delinquency rates on subprime mortgage-backed securities they sold to investors.

Credit Suisse will pay $4.5 million and Merrill Lynch will pay $3 million to settle the charges, FINRA said Thursday. The companies did not admit or deny the agency's charges. Related Bank of America and Morgan Stanley settle military foreclosure cases Firms that issue subprime residential mortgage-backed securities are required to disclose data on the delinquency rates of similar loans previously pooled and packaged into securities, a process known as securitization. That historical delinquency rate data can help investors assess whether future returns on a similar mortgage-backed security might be disrupted by borrowers' failure to make loan payments. Subprime loans, in particular, are often made to borrowers who are considered to be high credit risks. Investments made up of these loans typically carry a higher yield for investors but a greater risk that borrowers might default. FINRA, the securities industry's self-policing organization, found that in 2006, Credit Suisse misrepresented the historical delinquency rates for 21 residential mortgage-backed securities that it underwrote and sold.

The company knew of the errors but failed to sufficiently investigate the matter, inform clients who invested in the securities or fix the incorrect information it had posted on a website, FINRA said. The organization also said Credit Suisse didn't define the methodology it used to calculate delinquencies, nor did it establish an adequate system to supervise the website. Because there are different standards for calculating delinquencies, issuers of mortgaged-backed securities are required to disclose the specific method used to calculate delinquencies. For six of the securitizations, the delinquency errors were significant enough to affect how an investor gauged subsequent securitizations, FINRA said. Separately, FINRA found that Merrill Lynch negligently misrepresented the historical delinquency rates for 61 subprime residential mortgage-backed securities it underwrote and sold. The company corrected the information in June 2007 after learning of the errors. Still, the delinquencies were significant enough to affect an investor's assessment of subsequent securitizations in eight instances, FINRA said. The organization also determined that Merrill Lynch failed to establish a reasonable system to supervise how it reported the delinquency data. To know more about Gainesville Mortgage, Reverse Mortgage or Refinancing feel free to visit : http://www.leonmortgage.com Article Source: http://gainesvillemortgage.wordpress.com/?p=21&preview=true