ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Oct. 19, 2015) – The National Credit Union Administration today announced an agreement with Barclay’s Capital for $325 million to resolve claims arising from losses related to purchases of faulty residential mortgage-backed securities by corporate credit unions.
NCUA uses the net proceeds to reduce Temporary Corporate Credit Union Stabilization Fund assessments charged to federally insured credit unions to pay for the losses caused by the failure of five corporate credit unions.
“In order to help minimize losses and future costs to the credit union system, NCUA is committed to pursuing recoveries against financial firms we maintain contributed to the corporate crisis,” NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz said. “The agency has a statutory obligation to secure recoveries for credit unions and ensure that consumers remain protected, and we take that responsibility very seriously.”
NCUA filed suit against Barclay’s, the U.S. subsidiary of the British financial services firm, in 2012. Once the settlement is completed, NCUA will dismiss pending suits against the firm in federal district courts in New York and Kansas. Barclay’s does not admit fault in the settlement.
NCUA continues to pursue litigation in federal courts in New York, Kansas and California against financial firms, including Goldman Sachs, UBS, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley, based on the sale of faulty securities that caused the collapse of five corporate credit unions.
The agency has other litigation pending against securities firms alleging violations of state and federal anti-trust law by manipulation of interest rates through the London Interbank Offer Rate (LIBOR) system. NCUA also has pending suits against financial firms alleging their failure to perform their duties as trustees of residential mortgage-backed securities trusts.
NCUA was the first federal regulatory agency for depository institutions to recover losses from investments in these securities on behalf of failed financial institutions.
The NCUA is the independent federal agency created by the U.S. Congress to regulate, charter and supervise federal credit unions. With the backing of the full faith and credit of the United States, the NCUA operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, insuring the deposits of more than 135 million account holders in all federal credit unions and the overwhelming majority of state-chartered credit unions. The NCUA also protects consumers and educates the public on consumer protection and financial literacy issues.