Litigation related to various representations and warranties made on mortgage loans tied to JPMorgan Chase(JPM) RMBS created about $140 billion in potential investor claims, the banking giant said in a recent securities filing.
Thomson Reuters sounded the alarm on the mega bank’s filing, which comes a few weeks after HousingWire reported that Bank of America (BAC)doubled its own exposure to unresolved mortgage-buyback risk during the first nine months of the year.
BofA’s repurchase risk on reps and warrants reached $25.5 billion in September, up significantly from $12.6 billion in December of last year.
While settlements and various outcomes in cases and court disputes could significantly reduce exposure estimates at the big banks, the numbers are still high and create fears of whether big risks have been ignored at the mega banks.
JPMorgan noted in its latest securities filing that in actions where JPM is only the underwriter of other firms’ MBS offerings, JPM has some indemnification from the issuers.
But, JPMorgan added in its SEC filing that “those indemnity rights may prove effectively unenforceable where the issuers are now defunct, such as in pending cases where the firm has been named involving affiliates of IndyMac Bancorp and Thornburg Mortgage. The firm may also be contractually obligated to indemnify underwriters in certain deals it issued,” JPMorgan added.
