Fannie Mae filed a $2 billion civil complaint Dec. 12 against its former outside auditor, KPMG LLP, accusing the firm of negligence and breach of contract.The congressionally chartered mortgage giant says because of KPMG's actions, it suffered more than $2 billion in damages and had to pay more than $1 billion (and counting) to restate its books. (Fannie Mae recently restated prior years' earnings downward by $6.3 billion.) Fannie's accounting scandal broke wide open in 2004 and resulted in the ouster of its former chairman and chief executive Franklin Raines and chief financial officer Timothy Howard. Investigators later found that the company violated a host of accounting rules involving hedging, amortization and other matters. The government-sponsored enterprise charges that KPMG's "repeated assurances" to its audit committee "have proven to be dramatically wrong," noting that it has been forced to restate financials to correct more than 30 accounting errors that the firm missed or "affirmatively approved." At deadline time, KPMG had not yet commented on the lawsuit.
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A federal judge in Texas dismissed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's medical debt rule and prohibited states from passing their own laws prohibiting medical debt on credit reports.
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Dr. Mark Calabria takes on the additional role of chief statistician of the United States; retired Ally Bank executive Diane Morais has joined First Citizens Bancshares' board of directors; MainStreet Bank has promoted Alex Vari to chief financial officer; and more in this week's banking news roundup.
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While refinances are behind the latest increases, the pace of purchase activity may be a stronger indicator of where the housing market sits.
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The share of economists expecting a September rate reduction grew in the July Wolters Kluwer survey, but the October or later percentage also increased.
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Rising home prices and softening sales offer a mixed view of a market that some say is shifting to favor buyers.
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The notes are backed by home improvement installment loans originated by approved dealers in Foundation Finance Company's network.
11h ago