Commerzbank Sues Banks in U.S. Over Mortgage-Backed Securities Losses
28 Décembre 2015 - 4:30PM
Dow Jones News
German lender Commerzbank AG is suing four banks in the U.S. in
an attempt to hold the banks accountable for almost $2 billion in
losses related to mortgage-backed securities.
According to court documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal,
the German bank claims that the four banks—Deutsche Bank AG's U.S.
unit Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., Bank of New York Mellon
Corp. Wells Fargo N.A. and HSBC Bank USA N.A.—failed to properly
monitor losses on residential mortgage-backed securities for which
they acted as trustees on behalf of Commerzbank.
In each of the four lawsuits, Commerzbank accuses the bank in
question of breaching "contractual and fiduciary duties."
Commerzbank bought these securities between 2005 and 2007; in
the subsequent mortgage debt crisis, the investments lost virtually
their entire value. Commerzbank is making a last attempt to secure
the funds or some of the funds before the claims lapse.
The overall amount Commerzbank is trying to recoup from the four
banks is almost $1.9 billion. Of this, Commerzbank claims it lost
some $640 million when using Deutsche Bank National Trust as
trustee for some of the securities. It pegs an even higher loss of
$750 million incurred for securities entrusted to BNY Mellon.
Commerzbank also claims $290 million from Wells Fargo and $204
million from HSBC Bank USA.
The four lawsuits were filed on Dec. 23 and Dec 24 in the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New York.
A spokesman for Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the matter.
Spokespeople for BNY Mellon, Wells Fargo and HSBC weren't
immediately available to comment.
For Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank's crosstown neighbor in
Frankfurt, Germany, the lawsuit comes at a bad time, as it tries to
reduce number of legal disputes it is currently involved
in—currently around 7,000.
The cases filed in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of
New York, are Commerzbank AG v. The Bank of New York Mellon, No.
15-10029; Commerzbank AG v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Company,
No. 15-10031; Commerzbank AG v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A., No.
15-10033; and Commerzbank AG v. HSBC Bank USA, National
Association, No. 15-10032.
Write to Madeleine Nissen at Madeleine.Nissen@wsj.com and Ulrike
Dauer at ulrike.dauer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 28, 2015 10:15 ET (15:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Twitter (NYSE:TWTR)
Graphique Historique de l'Action
De Sept 2024 à Oct 2024
Twitter (NYSE:TWTR)
Graphique Historique de l'Action
De Oct 2023 à Oct 2024
