Schneiderman
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is reportedly meeting with and seeking records from Wall Street banking giants Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
According to The Associated Press, the attorney general is heading up a comprehensive investigation into the mortgage crisis that eventually led to the recession.
The meetings with the three banks, the AP reported, will focus on mortgage securities operations, which might have concealed risky loans. The meetings are expected to happen in the coming weeks.
The attorney general's records search is part of his "review of factors" leading to the financial crisis in 2008, the AP reported.
A spokesman for Schneiderman told the New York Times that the attorney general would not comment on the investigation so early on.
The Times said Schneiderman's records search also could mean he is breaking away from the other 40-plus state attorneys general heading up a nationwide investigation into mortgage foreclosures.
He wouldn't be the only one.
Last month, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt was said to be working on his own settlement with the mortgage servicers at the center of the investigation.
"Attorney General Pruitt has instructed his public protection team to craft a settlement that is specific to Oklahoma's concerns of punishing bad actors while respecting the appropriate role of attorneys general," a spokesperson for Pruitt's office told Housing Wire, a financial news service for the mortgage market, in a statement.
The mortgage foreclosure probe began in October with inquiries into so-called "robosigning" practices by several mortgage companies, and has since broadened into identifying and addressing additional alleged improper foreclosure practices.
In addition to the state attorneys general, the U.S. Justice Department, the Treasury Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are working on the investigation.
The attorneys general and federal regulators are looking to require mandatory modifications, principal reduction and fine the mortgage servicers as much as $25 billion.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by e-mail at jessica@legalnewsline.com.