Pages

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Bank Of America Reports No Day With Trading Losses In Q3, Announces MBS Complaints Over $375 Billion Worth Of Securities

In its just released 215 page 10-Q, BofA announced it has just overtaken Goldman, and where even Goldman ended up having days with trading losses, Bank of America was perfect. Gotta love all those 3rd grade BofA prop traders (as an FYI to all, BofA is where you go where the safety school equivalent of prop trading dumps you). What is more interesting is that the seemingly flawless trading machine which is BofA has just disclosed it has received a complains by the Chicago FHLB, Cambridge Place, and Charles Schwab (and others) that allege misrepresentations in over $375 billion worth of RMBS. It appears the FRBNY is not the only entity that now is gunning for the scalp of the last remaining flawless frontrunner.
The Corporation and affiliates, legacy Countrywide entities and affiliates, and legacy Merrill Lynch entities and affiliates have been named as defendants in a number of cases relating to various roles they played in MBS offerings. These cases are generally purported class action suits or actions by individual purchasers of securities. Although the allegations vary by lawsuit, these cases generally allege that the offering documents for more than $375 billion of securities issued by hundreds of securitization trusts contained material misrepresentations and omissions, including statements regarding the underwriting standards pursuant to which the underlying mortgage loans were issued, the ratings given to the tranches by rating agencies, and the appraisal standards that were used in violation of Section 11 and 12 of the Securities Act of 1933 and/or state securities laws. The cases generally allege unspecified compensatory damages and in some instances, seek rescission. The Corporation has previously disclosed some of these matters under other headings, in its 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2010 and June 30, 2010, including Countrywide Mortgage-Backed Securities Litigation; IndyMac Litigation; Merrill Lynch Subprime-related Matters; and Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle Litigation.

BAS, Asset Backed Funding Corporation, Banc of America Mortgage Securities, Inc., CSC, CWABS, Inc., CWALT, Inc., Merrill Lynch Pierce, Fenner and Smith, Inc. (MLPF&S), and Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors, Inc. are among the defendants in an individual action, entitled Cambridge Place Investment Management Inc. v. Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc., et al., filed by Cambridge Place Investment Management Inc. in Massachusetts Superior Court, Middlesex County on July 9, 2010. Plaintiff asserts claims under the Massachusetts securities laws and seeks unspecified damages and rescission, among other relief. On August 13, 2010, certain defendants removed the case to federal court. On September 13, 2010, plaintiff moved to remand the matter to state court.

BAS, Bank of America Mortgage Securities, Inc., Bank of America Funding Corporation, CFC and CWALT, Inc., MLPF&S, and Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors, Inc. are among the defendants named in an individual action filed by The Charles Schwab Corporation in Superior Court California, County of San Francisco. The case was filed on July 15, 2010 and is entitled The Charles Schwab Corporation v. BNP Paribas Securities Corp. and the amended complaint alleges violations of the Securities Act of 1933, the California Corporate Securities Act, the California Civil Code, and common law in connection with various offerings of MBS and seeks unspecified damages and rescission, among other relief.

On October 15, 2010, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (FHLB Chicago) filed a complaint entitled Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago v. Banc of America Funding Corporation et al., in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois County Department, Chancery Division against the Corporation, Banc of America Funding Corporation, BAS, CSC and MLPF&S, among other defendants, asserting claims for violations of the Illinois Securities Law, as well as negligent misrepresentation under Illinois common law in connection with various offerings of MBS. FHLB Chicago filed a second complaint on October 15, 2010 entitled Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago v. Banc of America Securities LLC et al., in the Superior Court of the State of California County of Los Angeles, Northwest District against BAS, CSC, CFC, CWABS, Inc., CWALT, Inc., CWMBS, Inc., among other defendants, asserting claims for violations of the California Civil Code, California Corporation Code, Illinois Securities Law, Sections 11, 12 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933, as well as negligent misrepresentation and rescission of contract in connection with various offerings of MBS. The complaints filed by FHLB Chicago make allegations similar to those in the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh and Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle actions and seek unspecified damages and rescission, among other relief.
What is odd is that the complaint was filed on October 15, and we are learing about it only 20 days later. Surely $375 billion is material even by Bank of Countrywide Lynch's estimates...
As for the mot hilarious piece of news: here is BofA trading days: the firm had zero trading loss days in Q3. In other words, Bank of America's India trading desk which according to rumors was recently outsourced to Calcutta, is now beating even Goldman Sachs at its game.
The chart below shows how Bank of America made on average $50 milion in trading each day in Q3.

No comments:

Post a Comment