Lawyers

• U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Prohibits Judicial Review Against FHFA in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac

  U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has concluded to bar judicial review against the Federal Housing Finance Agency of two mortgage lenders after 2008 crisis.

• Goldman Sachs settlement over mortgage fraud charges amounts to $5.1 billion

  Goldman Sachs is about to reach a $5.1 billion settlement with the US government over charges that, along with other banks in 2006-2008, it had falsely advertised residential mortgaged backed securities (RMBS) as safe investments to millions of investors and other financial cilents.

• BofA profit soars as expenses fall to lowest since 2008

  Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), the No. 2 U.S. bank by assets, reported its biggest quarterly profit in nearly four years on Wednesday as mortgage banking revenue soared and expenses fell to their lowest since the financial crisis.

• U.S. judge finds Wells Fargo breached 2010 mortgage settlement

  Wells Fargo Bank breached a nationwide 2010 legal settlement involving adjustable-payment mortgages, a federal judge ruled, finding that the bank did not properly evaluate homeowners who applied for help to avoid foreclosures.

• U.S. housing regulator signals guarantee fee decision this quarter

  The top U.S. housing regulator on Tuesday said his agency would make a decision by the end of this quarter on fees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge lenders for guaranteeing mortgages.

• Divided SEC adopts mortgage rule, decries lax lending

  U.S. securities regulators adopted a rule on Wednesday designed to avert another financial crisis, but two officials dissented, saying it did not do enough to discourage banks from lending to borrowers with shaky credit and then passing the mortgage risk to investors.

• Americans face post-foreclosure hell as wages garnished, assets seized

  Many thousands of Americans who lost their homes in the housing bust, but have since begun to rebuild their finances, are suddenly facing a new foreclosure nightmare: debt collectors are chasing them down for the money they still owe by freezing their bank accounts, garnishing their wages and seizing their assets.

• Six years after AIG bailout, trial asks: was it legal?

  One of the more unusual trials to come out of the 2008 financial crisis is set to begin on Monday, when a federal judge will consider whether the U.S. government's rescue of American International Group Inc (AIG.N) was, in fact, legal.