March 28, 2024

DealBook: Regulator Fines Barclays Capital Over Subprime Mortgages

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said on Thursday that it had fined Barclays Capital $3 million for misrepresenting information about subprime mortgage securities the bank had sold from 2007 to 2010.

Finra, as the nonprofit self-regulator is known, said in a statement that Barclays Capital had provided inaccurate data about the delinquency rates of mortgages packed into three securities. The misrepresentations “contained errors significant enough to affect an investor’s assessment of subsequent securitizations,” according to the agency.

That data was then referenced for five additional subprime securities, the agency said.

“Barclays did not have a system in place to ensure that delinquency data posted on its Web site was accurate,” J. Bradley Bennett, the agency’s enforcement chief, said in a statement. “Therefore, investors were supplied inaccurate information to assess future performance of RMBS investments.”

Barclays Capital neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing, though it consented to the fine. A spokeswoman for the bank declined comment.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined several investment banks in the last two years, including Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse in May and Deutsche Bank in July 2010.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=c0057d89aedfad29d27e7f05bcd975b5