Nate Raymond and Jonathan Stempel, REUTERS
NEW YORK (Reuters) — A U.S. judge on Monday ruled that Nomura Holdings Inc (8604.T) made false statements in selling mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB) ahead of the 2008 financial crisis.
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan ruled for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the conservator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in a ruling that could allow the U.S. regulator to recover around $450 million.
Cote, who presided over a non-jury trial, said the FHFA was entitled to judgment against Nomura and the Royal Bank of Scotland Plc (RBS.L), which underwrote some of the $2 billion in mortgage-backed securities, in light of misstatements they made in offering documents.
“The offering documents did not correctly describe the mortgage loans,” the judge wrote in a 361-page decision. “The magnitude of falsity, conservatively measured, is enormous.”
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