Mortgage bond insurer MBIA Inc. reportedly reached an agreement to settle ongoing litigation against Bank of America over soured mortgage bonds tied to Countrywide Financial for $1.65 billion in cash, Dow Jones reported Monday.
This settlement puts MBIA a significant step forward in its ongoing litigation against mortgage firms that the insurer accuses of misrepresenting the quality of loans guaranteed by MBIA (MBI).
MBIA’s shares shot up well over 36% Monday morning after the news broke.
The New York Post recently released a report, alleging the insurer has only several months to recover multi-billion dollar settlements from financial firms involved in similar litigation before falling into the hands of its insurance regulator. Liquidity concerns prompted those claims, the NY Post article said. MBIA refuted those claims.
In a positive turn of events, MBIA settled with Flagstar Bancorp for $110 million last week over similar allegations.
Initial reports suggest MBIA was hoping to squeeze at least $3 billion out of BofA, a number that is substantially above the reported settlement announced by Dow Jones.
