Schneiderman
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is again coming out against a proposed $8.5 billion settlement between Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
According to Bloomberg, the attorney general asked New York State Justice Barbara Kapnick, who is overseeing the case, to allow his office to intervene.
In his filing Tuesday, Schneiderman argues that there are "serious questions" about the proposed deal.
"The proposed cash payment represents only a tiny percentage of the losses investors have faced and will continue to face," the attorney general wrote, according to the news service.
The settlement covers more than 500 troubled mortgage pools issued by Countrywide Financial. Bank of America bought Countrywide in 2008.
Last August, Schneiderman filed a lawsuit against Bank of New York in New York State Supreme Court, accusing the bank of fraud in its role as a trustee overseeing the pools for investors.
The attorney general alleged that the bank misled and breached its duties to investors, and should be forced to pay penalties and restitution.
In letters to more than a dozen investment firms involved in the deal, Schneiderman said he was concerned the settlement was made without the full participation of those affected investors.
A spokesman for Schneiderman told Bloomberg that, as part of his filing this week, the attorney general has removed the claims it filed against Bank of New York last year.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.