BOA agrees to record $17bn settlement

Bank of America has reached a record $17 billion settlement with the government over sales of shoddy mortgage-backed securities during the run-up to the financial meltdown

Bank of America has reached a record $17 billion settlement with the government over sales of shoddy mortgage-backed securities during the run-up to the financial meltdown. The settlement is the largest with a single corporation in U.S. history.

Citing officials familiar with the negotiations, the Associated Press reported today that the lender would pay the government $10 billion in cash and provide $7 billion in consumer relief.

The deal also requires the bank to acknowledge misrepresenting the quality of mortgage-backed securities it sold, as well as those sold by its Countrywide and Merrill Lynch units, according to the AP. Those units, responsible for most of the shoddy loans, were acquired by Bank of America in 2008.