Bank Of America Nears $8.5B Settlement

Financial Times reports:

Bank of America is near a deal to pay $8.5bn to investors, including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, to settle claims that mortgage-backed securities sold by its Countrywide Financial unit failed to meet underwriting requirements and other guidelines, people familiar with the situation said.

The agreement would be the largest so far by a bank to settle such claims and would exceed BofA’s earnings for all of 2009, the last year for which it showed a profit. BofA’s board, which met on Tuesday, must approve the deal, people familiar with the matter said.