First FHFA Case Of 16 Bank Suits to Be Tried Next Year, Judge Says. UBS First And The Rest in 2014

The first of 16 suits by the Federal Housing Finance Agency against banks over mortgage-backed securities will be tried in New York next year, with the rest to follow in 2014, a federal judge said.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote set out a proposed schedule for the trials in a court conference with more than two dozen lawyers in Manhattan today. Under Cote’s plan, UBS AG (UBSN), Switzerland’s biggest bank, would be first to defend claims it misled Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) about the quality of mortgage loans underlying securities bought by the two agencies.

The FHFA sued 17 banks including Bank of America Corp.,JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Citigroup Inc. (C), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS)and Deutsche Bank AG. (DBK) Most of the suits were filed in Manhattan federal court in September or moved to the court later. The UBS suit was filed in July. Sixteen cases have been assigned to Judge Cote.

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