According to Reuters, a federal judge recommended that due diligence firm Clayton Holdings should turn over emails and other data in an effort to help the government decide which banks to sue for selling faulty mortgages.
"Investigators had subpoenaed the materials on July 1 on behalf of the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group, which includes the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal and state regulators.
If enforced, the subpoena could help the government pursue cases against banks it wants to hold accountable for selling securities that fueled the U.S. housing and financial crises.
The government alleged that Clayton's due diligence reviews discussed "potential problems with individual loans making up the loan pools, as did internal and external communications at Clayton associated with the reviews."