The Department of Justice is pursuing former personnel who worked for Deutsche Bank in the years before the financial crisis, according to an exclusive report from Reuters.
While author Joy Wiltermuth refers to targeted staffers as those “who worked in Deutsche Bank's mortgage unit in the run-up to the financial crisis,” the indication is that Justice is going after former mortgage bond salespersons.
The article is also published in International Financing Review, Reuters journal covering the capital markets.
From the report:
“The probe of former Deutsche staffers is a push to hold individuals accountable for their role in the housing crises.”
Deutsche Bank announced late last year it finally reached a settlement in principle with the Department of Justice in connection with the bank’s issuance and underwriting of residential mortgage-backed securities between 2005 and 2007.
Deutsche Bank initially fought the larger charge of $14 billion; the latest figure puts the penalty in the $7 billion range.
At one point, in the early 2000s, Deutsche Bank ran an entire mortgage empire in the United States, dealing in the origination, servicing and secondary markets. Since the crisis, the German bank scaled back its US residential operations considerably, though continues to be haunted by its American activities.
