Big banks pony up in wake of the financial crisis

Since 2010 thousands of lawsuits related to the financial crisis have been brought against the country’s top five banks. So far, the Big Five have settled for a little more than $60 billion. Bank of America (BAC) has paid out more (and been sued more) than anyone else (see “Getting BofA to Grow Again“), with Wells Fargo (WFC) a distant second. The biggest settlements so far: Federal and state regulators behind the historic National Mortgage Settlement received $25 billion; other banks, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were awarded $13.3 billion; and investors ended up with an $8.5 billion settlement from BofA in 2011’s BNY Mellon suit.