Pinoy Biztalk and Jobs: Top 10 fines imposed on banks by the US

Jun 30, 2014

Top 10 fines imposed on banks by the US

NEW YORK - French bank BNP Paribas is expected to pay a record $9 billion fine for years of dealing with US-blacklisted Sudan and Iran, in a case that has strained ties between Paris and Washington. It will be a record US fine of a foreign bank.

Below is a list of the 10 largest fines in US banking history:

$25 billion: Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Ally Financial - In February 2012, the banks collectively agreed to pay this amount -- $20 billion in various forms of relief for home-loan borrowers and $5 billion in penalties and contributions to a cash fund for unfairly foreclosed homes -- to avoid prosecution over abuses.

$13 billion: JPMorgan Chase - The bank, Wall Street's former poster child, paid in November 2013 to resolve a series of US and state lawsuits over the sale of toxic mortgage-backed securities.

$11.6 billion: Bank of America - One of the rare big US banks whose headquarters is not in New York, the North Carolina-based Bank of America also paid the biggest penalty for the subprime mortgage crisis. In January 2013, BofA paid this fine to settle claims that it sold US government-controlled mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of dud home loans.

$9.5 billion: Bank of America - On March 26 this year, the bank, America's second-largest lender in assets, agreed to pay $9.5 billion to settle litigation by the Federal Housing Finance Agency over mortgage securities sold to Fannie Mae and fellow agency Freddie Mac.

$8.5 billion: Bank of America - In June 2011 the bank agreed to compensate a group of investors who said they lost money on mortgage-backed securities bought before the financial crisis.

$2.6 billion: Credit Suisse - In May 2014 the bank pleaded guilty to helping rich Americans lie to avoid paying taxes.

$1.9 billion: HSBC - The British bank agreed to pay up in December 2012 to avoid prosecution for complicity in money laundering.

$1.7 billion: JPMorgan Chase - In January the bank agreed to cough up to resolve charges its lax oversight enabled Bernard Madoff to build up the massive Ponzi scheme that bilked investors of billions.

$1.5 billion: UBS - In December 2012 the Swiss bank paid out to put an end to legal proceedings linked to the alleged fixing of the inter-bank Libor interest rate.