Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group Announces Website, Coordination Team

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

The Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) Working Group has announced new resources in the ongoing effort to investigate misconduct, including the launch of a RMBS website to report fraud and the creation of a coordination team to facilitate the various investigations underway around the country. The RMBS Working Group’s co-chairs include Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Lanny Breuer, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Stuart Delery, U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado John Walsh, Director of Enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission Robert Khuzami, and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. The working group and its members are focused on investigating potential false or misleading statements, deception or other misconduct by market participants in the creation, packaging and sale of mortgage-backed securities.

“The RMBS website is a new call to those insiders who know about fraud that occurred in the RMBS market, who know it's time to expose that fraud, and who want to help us hold accountable those individuals and institutions who broke the law in pursuit of bigger paydays,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Tony West, who noted that whistleblowers enjoy legal rights that protect their ability to speak out without the fear of retaliation.

A coordination team has been created to facilitate communication and coordination among the various agencies conducting RMBS investigations nationwide. Matthew Stegman, a career white-collar prosecutor, is the RMBS Working Group’s Coordinator.

Members include criminal prosecutors and civil attorneys, analysts and FBI investigators who are coordinating federal and state fraud investigations nationwide.

The working group will hold a two-day meeting at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the SEC from May 31 to June 1, 2012. The group is expecting more than 180 attorneys, agents, investigators and analysts from working group member agencies and offices around the country to attend the event, both in person and by video at several SEC regional offices. The event will be an opportunity for prosecutors, civil attorneys, regulators, state attorneys general, law enforcement agencies and experts in the field to discuss and learn from ongoing investigations, identify new potential targets and successful legal theories, and coordinate strategies.