Citigroup executives avoid U.S. charges over mortgage bonds – document

U.S. authorities have decided not to pursue criminal charges against any Citigroup Inc (C.N) executives or employees involved in packaging and selling mortgage-backed securities at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis, a government report shows.

The decision, which followed Citigroup’s $7-billion settlement in 2014 resolving federal and state civil claims related to mortgage bonds, was described in a November report obtained by Reuters in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Its release marked the first public acknowledgement by U.S. authorities that executives at a major bank linked to the financial crisis would face no criminal charges for their involvement in selling billions of dollars of toxic mortgage bonds.

The report, by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General, one of the agencies in the Citigroup probe, said following the settlement, prosecutors reviewed the evidence to see if any individuals could be charged and determined “there was not enough compelling evidence.”

Source: Reuters