Goldman Sachs reports $15.8 billion in mortgage-related litigation

Goldman Sachs ($158.72 1.31%) had about $15.8 billion of mortgage-related securities tied up in legal proceedings at the end of the third quarter, a large jump from $485 million at June 30.

The investment-banking giant, however, estimated much less in "reasonably possible" losses from the litigation, projecting potential losses of $2 billion to $2.6 billion, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Goldman Sachs previously put the upper end of possible legal losses at $2 billion. As of Sept. 30, lawsuits against the company have plaintiffs who seek the rescission of about $15.8 billion in mortgage-related securities sold to them by Goldman.

In September, the Federal Housing Finance Agency sued Goldman as well as 16 other financial institutions over soured mortgage-backed securities. The FHFA seeks to recover $11.1 billion from Goldman.

The company reported a third-quarter loss of $393 million loss, or 84 cents a share, just the second quarterly loss for Goldman since going public in 1999. The quarterly loss was down from income of $1.9 billion, or $2.98 a share, a year earlier.

Total assets under management at Sept. 30 were $821 billion down 3% from $844 billion the previous quarter.

Write to Andrew Scoggin.

Follow him on Twitter @ascoggin.