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The U.S. Supreme Court held Monday that banks suing the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency over mortgage-backed securities sold off to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cannot appeal a preliminary lower court's ruling, Reuters reported.
In 2011, the agency sued 18 banks, accusing them of violating securities laws by misleading Fannie and Freddie about $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities. The publication has more:
The appeals court upheld several preliminary rulings that a district court made in a test case that focused on the claims against one defendant, UBS AG.
UBS settled the claims in July for $885 million, but the 13 other banks, which were not parties in the appeals court case, asked for special permission so they can appeal the decision. The banks say the appeals court ruling will also affect their cases. Normally, an entity that is not a party in litigation does not have a right to appeal.
The litigation will now continue in the district court, with the various banks able at a later date to appeal, if an adverse court ruling directly affects them.
