New York -
London-based lender HSBC Holdings became the latest financial firm to settle claims by the US government over the sale of mortgage-backed securities that led to the 2008 financial crisis.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency said the US unit of HSBC would pay 550 million dollars to resolve claims that it had violated securities laws when it sold the securities.
“We are pleased to have resolved this matter,” Stuart Alderoty, general counsel for HSBC's US unit, said.
The case is one of 18 lawsuits filed by the agency in 2011.
At issue were the securities sold during 2005-07 by HSBC and the 17 other firms to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the quasi-independent federal mortgage companies that required a bailout by taxpayers of 187.5 billion dollars.
More than 200 billion dollars has been recouped by the agency to date, Bloomberg news agency reported.
It settled with Bank of America in August for a record 16.65 billion dollars. Nearly 10 billion dollars of that went to settle federal and state civil claims, and the remaining went to provide relief to customers hurt by the financial crisis.
The cases arose from the mortgage industry's allegedly deceptive or abusive practices, which brought the US finance system to the brink of collapse and provoked a global recession.
In the last year, Citigroup reached a 7-billion-dollar settlement, while JPMorgan Chase & Co agreed to pay 13 billion dollars in similar cases. - Sapa-dpa