Shares in MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) were some of the biggest movers on the market today after the announcement of a settlement between the company and Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) in a case concerning the financial crisis and losses suffered on mortgage loans.
The settlement will see Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) pay MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) $1.6 billion and in return the bank will take a 5 percent share of the insurer. The reports of the settlement comes from Dow Jones. The agency did not name sources but said the information came from people close to the matter.
Under the terms of the deal Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) will also extend a credit line, to a maximum of $500 million to MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI). Shares in both of the companies were trading well after the settlement was leaked, with Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) stock up 4 percent at time of writing.
The suit has been hanging over the heads of both firms since April 2009, when MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) originally filed the action. The suit deals with loans held by Countrywide Financial in the days leading up to the financial crisis. In January of 2008, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) revealed that it had agreed to buy the sub prime lender as the market collapsed.
It was just last week that a judge in the State of New York ruled that MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) had the right to pursue Bank of America in the courts. Earlier in 2013, a judge ruled that Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) had no right to follow MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) in the courts in a dispute over the company’s restructuring in 2009.
Countrywide Financial became a part of Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) in September of 2008, and court battles concerning the allocation of responsibility in the MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) case has raged on for more than three years.
So far in 2013 shares in MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) have risen by more than 75 percent, driven by the news today and other news relating to this suit that became public throughout the earlier parts of the year. Shares in Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) have risen by close to 10 percent in the first few months.
