The disclosures are the latest sign government officials are stepping up action against banks that packaged home loans into bonds during the housing boom. The underlying mortgages later soured, spurring billions in losses for investors. Goldman [GS Loading... () 
] and Wells Fargo [WFC Loading... () ] both said they received so-called "Wells notices" from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A Wells notice indicates SEC staff plan to recommend that the agency take legal action and gives a recipient a chance to mount a defense. Goldman received its Wells notice on Feb. 24, relating to a $1.3 billion subprime mortgage-backed securities deal in late 2006 that the bank underwrote. Goldman said it will be making a submission to the SEC related to the case and communicating with SEC staff to address their concerns. The bank has also received inquiries from governmental, regulatory bodies and self-regulatory entities concerning certain transactions Goldman entered with MF Global prior to the brokerage firm's bankruptcy filing. Goldman said it is cooperating with all such inquiries. Reuters earlier reported that Goldman purchased $1.3 billion worth of commercial paper from MF Global days before its bankruptcy on Oct. 31. Wells Fargo said its Wells notice related to its disclosures in offering documents for mortgage-backed securities. The bank said it is providing information requested by various regulatory agencies in connection with their investigations. Representatives of Goldman, Wells Fargo and the SEC declined further comment. The U.S. government is under intense pressure to show that it can hold Wall Street accountable for its contribution to the subprime housing meltdown that began in 2007. Last month, the Obama administration set up a special task force to investigate practices related to mortgage-backed securities. A settlement this month with five major banks, including Wells Fargo, over foreclosure-related abuses allows probes of mortgage bonds to go forward. Several banks, including Goldman and Wells Fargo, have already reached multi-million-dollar settlements with the SEC over crisis-era derivatives deals tied to subprime mortgages. The Wells notices detailed on Tuesday indicate the SEC is pursuing cases related to securitization of the underlying bonds as well.In January, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department issued civil subpoenas focusing on mortgage-backed securities to 11 different financial institutions. He said the department had discussed the subpoenas with the SEC and added these subpoenas did not duplicate earlier requests from that agency. Wells Fargo, the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets, said it is also facing investigations related to home loan origination practices. San Francisco-based Wells is the largest originator of mortgages in the United States. Last week, Citigroup [C Loading... () ] said it received a subpoena from federal and state regulators seeking information about the bank's "issuing, sponsoring, or underwriting" of mortgage-backed securities. The inquiries included a subpoena from the civil division of the U.S. Department of Justice, which Citigroup received on Jan. 27, it said in its annual report. That same day Attorney General Eric Holder said the department issued civil subpoenas to 11 financial institutions as part of a new effort to investigate misconduct in the packaging and sale of home loans to investors. In its annual report filing last week, Bank of America [BAC Loading... () ] said it has "received a number of subpoenas" from regulators and other authorities about the bank's underwriting and issuance of mortgage-backed securities. Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
The Royal Bank of Scotland HeadquartersThe bank, which is 82 percent owned by UK taxpayers, was hit by charges of 850 million pounds for the payment protection insurance scandal in which it mis-sold insurance. It took another 1.1 billion pounds in charges over its exposure to Greece debt. The loss is less than the 1.2 billion pounds forecast by Deutsche Bank. Its core Tier 1 ratio was 10.6 percent, indicating that it should not need to raise more money to meet new European banking regulations. Operating profit for 2011 was 1.9 billion pounds, up 11 percent from 2010. Chief Executive Stephen Hester, who decided to turn down his bonus last month after pressure from politicians and the public, was parachuted in to the bank in 2008 after it was part-nationalized. Since then, 34,000 jobs have been cut and the bank has been refocused on retail banking. Investment bankers were still paid 2.45 billion pounds in 2011 – down 9 percent from the previous year. The total "variable compensation" awarded to investment banking employees in 2011 was 390 million pounds, down 58 percent from 2010. This represented around 23,000 pounds per employee in the investment bank. Total "variable compensation" for the bank's workers was 785 million pounds, down 43 percent from the previous year.Many of RBS' [RBS-LN Loading... ()