The Justice Department announced today that Bank of America has agreed to pay $16.65 billion to settle allegations that the bank — and companies it later bought — sold risky, mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis.
Most of the loans at issue were sold by Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch before Bank of American bought the companies during the 2008 financial crisis. The settlement is the largest single settlement by a company in U.S. history.
Derek Thompson of The Atlantic, joins Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson
Guest
- Derek Thompson, senior editor at The Atlantic. He tweets @DKThomp.
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