CIFG Assurance North America filed another lawsuit against a major U.S. bank over insurance claims tied to risky mortgage-backed securities debt.
The insurer claims Bear Stearns, now a part of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), committed fraud when it obtained insurance backing from CIFG issued credit default swaps linked to risky mortgage bond debt.
This is the second-time in a week that CIFG has surfaced in an RMBS-related lawsuit. The insurer also sued Bank of America (BAC) over $150 million in insurance backing provided to RMBS deals.
In the suit, CIFG as insurer to the transaction claims Bear Stearns gained their confidence and financial guarantee by claiming the mortgage portfolios tied to the loans would be selected and managed by quality collateral managers.
Instead, CIFG claims Bear Stearns selected the loans used as collateral on their own accord and “stocked the CDOs with toxic RMBS,” while profiting from shorting the same CDO portfolios, according to court records.
CIFG claims it ended up having to pay $100 million to end liabilities associated with the deals.
In its lawsuit, CIFG alleges that many of the originators with loans in Bear Stearn’s RMBS deals were considered high risk in terms of loan quality.
The suit accuses Bear Stearns, now JPMorgan, of material misrepresentation in inducement of insurance and fraud.
