RICHMOND (Legal Newsline) — Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced the recovery of more than $63 million from 11 banks, settling allegations the banks misled the commonwealth of Virginia and the Virginia Retirement System (VRS).
These banks allegedly sold misrepresented residential mortgage-backed securities to the VRS. Other than health care-related issues, the recovery is the largest ever obtained in a suit that deals with alleged violations of the Virginia Fraud Taxpayers Act.
"This case breaks new ground for Virginia, recovering millions for Virginia taxpayers from banks that we alleged had misrepresented the products they sold to the commonwealth," Herring said. "Today's settlement, which represents significant relief to VRS, taxpayers and pensioners of the commonwealth, is one of the largest of its kind in the nation."
The institutions involved include Countrywide Securities Corporation and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., RBS Securities Inc., Barclays Capital Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, and UBS Securities LLC.