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Housing Wire is reporting that HSBC will pay $765 million to the federal government as part of a settlement that covers the bank’s mortgage bond activities in the run-up to the housing crisis.

An announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice outlines the resolution of an investigation into the bank’s mortgage origination and securitization activities from 2005 to 2007, according to editor Ben Lane.

While previous HSBC statements on the case didn’t disclose the conduct in question, the DOJ’s announcement alleged the bank allegedly knew it was putting toxic loans into residential mortgage-backed securities and sold the bonds anyway, Lane explains.

Read the HousingWire article.

At least six banks targeted in Switzerland’s investigation into Libor-rigging are in settlement talks with the country’s competition regulator, according to two people familiar with the negotiations, as the four-year probe moves closer to wrapping up, reports Bloomberg Business.

“Comco, as the Swiss Competition Commission is known locally, is trying to reach a so-called ‘accord amiable’ with the banks as it aims to complete the probe by July, one of the people said. They asked not to be identified because the negotiations are continuing.” the report says.

If a settlement in Switzerland goes through, it could result in the conclusion of nearly all the global investigations into this rate-rigging case.

Read the article.

The recently signed FAST Act was conceived as a federal transportation bill, but it also contains a number of provisions targeted toward the financial services industry, which will have a considerable impact on the strategy and operations of community banks, reports Bracewell & Giuliani.

The report includes sections covering using Federal Reserve resources to offset the cost of the legislation, regulatory relief measures for small to medium sized banks, equalizing the registration threshold for holding companies, and codifying the “4(1½)” exemption.

The FAST Act includes several other capital markets provisions that facilitate access to the capital markets for emerging growth companies and smaller reporting companies, according to the authors, Sanford Brown, Lauren Bourke Chase, Justin Long and Joshua McNulty.

Read the article.