Nomura Holding America Inc. and affiliates agreed to pay a $480 million penalty to resolve U.S. claims that the bank misled investors in marketing and selling mortgage-backed securities tied to the 2008 financial crisis, according to the Justice Department.
Tokyo-based Nomura is one of the last banks to settle with U.S. authorities over its handling of securities backed by some low-quality loans. Nomura falsely claimed that its due diligence on the securities was "extensive" and "disciplined," according to the U.S. attorney's office in New York. Nomura settled the case without admitting liability or wrongdoing and said it disputes the government's allegations, according to the settlement document.
"The company and the U.S. subsidiaries consider it to be in their best interests to conclude this matter and avoid protracted and expensive litigation concerning transactions and practices that occurred 10 or more years ago," the bank said in a written statement.
In the past few months, the Justice Department has been moving to wrap up Obama-era investigations into conduct involving mortgage bonds that it said contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. Last week, HSBC Holdings agreed to pay $765 million to settle allegations it sold defective mortgage securities. In August, Wells Fargo & Co. and Royal Bank of Scotland Group agreed to pay $2 billion and $4.9 billion, respectively, to resolve similar allegations.
The biggest settlements, struck in 2013 and 2014, had Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase agreeing to pay $17 billion and $13 billion, respectively, to resolve their cases.
"This settlement holds Nomura accountable for its fraudulent conduct in connection with its residential mortgage-backed securities offerings, which caused substantial harm to investors and contributed to the financial crisis of 2008," U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a written statement.
