Global Biz

Bank of America expects loss after settlement

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-06-30 09:44

CHARLOTTE, N.C./NEW YORK - Bank of America Corp said it expects to take more than $20 billion of charges after settling with mortgage bond investors, resulting in a second-quarter loss.

The sum, which includes an $8.5 billion settlement, removes a question mark that had been hovering over the bank since October, and Bank of America's shares rallied.

"Investors can now start attaching a number to these unknowns and what they will cost the bank. With the swipe of a pen, they've dealt with a large chunk of these issues," said Paul Miller, a banking analyst with FBR Capital Markets.

Chief Executive Brian Moynihan is working hard to move past the mortgage crisis, and this settlement is the latest step in that process.

But the large dollar amounts linked to the settlement and the bank's other efforts to clean up mortgage exposure in recent months could weigh on the bank's capital levels as most banks are looking to boost capital and return more money to shareholders.

The bank was hit hard by toxic home loans after Ken Lewis, Bank of America's prior CEO, bought mortgage lender Countrywide Financial in 2008, just as the housing market bubble was bursting.

Other banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co, could now face pressure to resolve similar allegations, and new lawsuits may arise, analysts said.

A group of 22 investors, including BlackRock Financial Management, alleged that bonds it bought from Countrywide Financial were packed with mortgages that should never have been sold. Bank of America bought Countrywide, once the largest US mortgage lender, in 2008.

Bank of America said that excluding items such as the settlement, second-quarter earnings could top the average Wall Street estimate.