By Rick Rothacker and Aruna Viswanatha
Nov 28 (Reuters) - U.S. securities regulators have dropped
an inquiry into Wells Fargo & Co mortgage securities offerings,
the bank said in a securities filing on Wednesday.
The staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission notified
the bank on Nov. 20 that it closed its investigation and doesn't
plan to recommend an enforcement action, the bank said in the
filing.
In February, the No. 4 U.S. bank by assets received a
so-called Wells notice from the SEC over disclosures provided in
certain mortgage-backed securities offerings. Such notices
usually indicate the agency plans to take some kind of
enforcement action and gives firms a chance to respond.
The SEC even took Wells to court in March to enforce
subpoenas it said the bank had repeatedly ignored. The agency
had said in a court filing that it was investigating possible
fraud in connection with the bank's sale of nearly $60 billion
in residential mortgage-backed securities to investors.
The SEC and Wells Fargo declined to comment on Wednesday.
The SEC has been slowly churning out cases involving
mortgage securities tied to the financial crisis, including
entering into $417 million in settlements earlier this month
with JPMorgan Chase & Co and Credit Suisse Group AG.
But it has also dropped other cases it initially planned to
charge. In August it told Goldman Sachs Group it closed an
investigation into the bank's role in selling $1.3 billion worth
of subprime mortgage securities.
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