Feb 9 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve announced on
Thursday it has reached an agreement with five U.S. banks on
penalties totaling $766.5 million over problems in their
mortgage servicing businesses as part of a larger $25 billion
foreclosure deal struck between the banks and state and federal
agencies.
In April 2011 banking regulators reached a deal with 14
banks on the steps they have to take to clean up how they deal
with struggling homeowners but no fines were levied at the time.
On Thursday the central bank said it was announcing
penalties related to that deal as part of an effort to
coordinate with the larger settlement between banks and state
attorneys general and the Justice Department that also was
announced on Thursday.
The banks involved are Bank of America Corp, Citigroup,
JPMorgan Chase & Co, Wells Fargo & Co and Ally Financial Inc,
the Fed said.
The Fed said its penalties are included in the larger deal's
$25 billion total.
Under the agreement the banks would not pay their fines to
the Fed and would instead make them as part of the programs that
comprise the broader state-federal deal.
Under the Fed agreement the breakdown of what each bank has
agreed to pay is $175.5 million for Bank of America, $22 million
for Citigroup, $275 million for JPMorgan Chase, $87 million for
Wells Fargo and $207 million for Ally.
A Fed spokeswoman said JPMorgan's penalty is the largest
ever levied by the agency.
The penalties being imposed are based on the amount allowed
under law, the severity of the problems found and on the size of
a bank's foreclosure operations, according to the Fed.
If after two years the banks do not pay the full amount of
the penalty through the state deal or similar programs they
would have to pay the difference to the Fed.
The penalties are the result of mortgage servicing problems
that burst into public view in 2010 when government agencies
began investigating bank foreclosure practices, including the
use of "robo-signers" to sign hundreds of unread foreclosure
documents a day.
Mortgage servicers collect payments and handle foreclosures.
In April of 2011, 14 mortgage servicers entered into a
settlement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency,
the Fed and the now defunct Office of Thrift Supervision on
steps that have to be taken to correct and improve their
servicing practices, such as providing borrowers with a single
point of contact for questions.
The OCC on Thursday also announced penalties on Bank of
America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo related to
the April agreement.
The Fed and the OCC oversee different parts of banking
institutions, with the Fed focused on the overall holding
company, and the OCC focused on the banking unit within that
umbrella.
Because of this difference, the penalties were announced
separately but the agencies said they coordinated their efforts.
The OCC said the banks have agreed to pay $394 million in
penalties. The regulator said, however, that the banks could
satisfy this requirement by showing that they have made an equal
amount of payments through the state-federal deal.
If after three years the regulator determines they have not
satisfied this agreement the banks would be required to pay the
fine to the OCC.
Under the OCC agreement the breakdown of what each bank
could owe is $164 million for Bank of America, $34 million for
Citigroup, $113 million for JPMorgan Chase, $83 million for
Wells Fargo.
(Reporting By Dave Clarke)
Follow us on Twitter: @ReutersLegal