Swiss bank UBS is set to shell out more than $1.4 billion to settle accusations of “historic” fraud relating to its role in the 2008 financial crisis.
The European banking giant has agreed to the settlement in order to prevent a lawsuit relating to its U.S. activity in the run-up to the crash more than a decade ago making it to court.
It brings to a close the final case brought by U.S. prosecutors investigating how banks’ conduct contributed to the crisis—specifically via the issuing of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS).
RMBS are debt-backed assets that pay investors from the interest on a pool of residential mortgage loans.
While low interest rates, subprime lending and government involvement in the housing market have all been blamed for fueling the financial crisis of 2008—which sparked a global economic downturn—the securitization of bad loans that were rated too highly and sold to unsuspecting investors also played a part.
In June 2007, Moody’s downgraded the ratings of $5 billion worth of subprime RMBS, while S&P placed $7.3 billion worth of RMBS on downgrade watch.
The now-settled lawsuit against UBS, filed by prosecutors in late 2018, accused the bank of knowingly making false and misleading statements to buyers of RMBS relating to the mortgages underpinning the assets.
This, prosecutors alleged, was a violation of U.S. law relating to mail, wire, and bank fraud statutes.
They claimed in the complaint that UBS had known “significant numbers” of the loans backing the RMBS did not comply with underwriting guidelines designed to assess borrowers’ ability to repay. UBS was also accused of knowing that the property values associated with many of the securitized loans were unsupported.
The 40 RMBS UBS sold in the U.S. sustained “substantial losses,” prosecutors pointed out.
‘Paying for its conduct’
U.S. attorneys said lenders’ misconduct in the years preceding the financial crisis had contributed to the devastation of people all over the United States.
“In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, people all across the country experienced financial ruin and emotional devastation, and many are still recovering nearly 15 years later,” associate attorney general Vanita Gupta said in a statement on Monday.
“As this settlement demonstrates, the department and our partner agencies remain committed to holding accountable those who break the law and undermine the well-being of American families.”
The settlement was agreed upon in “exchange for dismissal of the complaint,” the U.S. Attorney’s office confirmed.
Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, added UBS was “paying for its conduct.”
“The substantial civil penalty in this case serves as a warning to other players in the financial markets who seek to unlawfully profit through fraud…we will hold them accountable no matter how long it takes,” he said.
Meanwhile, U.S. attorney Ryan Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia said the settlement “represents accountability from those who thought they were above the law.”
A spokesperson for UBS was not available when contacted by Fortune.
However, the bank said in a statement on Monday that it had reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in relation to the “legacy matter from 2006–2007.”
“Under the terms of the settlement, UBS will pay $1.435 billion to resolve all civil claims by the DOJ in connection with UBS’s legacy [residential mortgage-backed securities] business in the U.S.,” it said.
Which other banks have paid out?
The UBS agreement means financial entities have now paid out more than $36 billion in settlements relating to their alleged misconduct around RMBS sales ahead of the financial crisis.
The Swiss lender’s figure dims in comparison to those paid out by some of its U.S. counterparts for their role in the financial crisis.
In 2013, JPMorgan—America’s biggest bank—agreed to pay $13 billion to settle charges brought by the U.S. government in relation to the quality of mortgages it was selling to investors in the lead-up to the 2008 crash.
A year later, Bank of America agreed to a record $16.7 billion settlement relating to allegations of financial fraud leading up to and during the financial crisis.
European banks haven’t been let off the hook for the part they played in the crisis, though—Britain’s RBS and Credit Suisse, which was bought out by UBS last year, are among those to have coughed up multibillion-dollar settlements to the U.S. government.
