AG Recovers Almost $80 Million From Financial Firms

JACKSON, Miss. — Attorney General Jim Hood has returned approximately $76 million to Mississippi from losses suffered during the Financial and Mortgage Crisis of recent history.

The most recent case was settled Tuesday when Attorney General Hood announced that Mississippi, the U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of 19 states and the District of Columbia reached a $1.375 billion settlement with Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC over allegations that S&P misled investors when it rated structured finance securities in the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis.  Mississippi will receive $26,754,000 million in that settlement.

The Attorney General has also returned another $2.29 million from residential mortgage backed securities cases (RMBS), with more to come.  Additionally, a $25 billion join federal-state agreement with the nations’ five largest mortgage servicers over foreclosure abuses and fraud, and unacceptable nationwide mortgage servicing practices in 2008 netted approximately $47.1 million for Mississippi.

That money was used to help homeowners struggling to keep their homes and those who suffered due to the foreclosure crisis while also putting $7.7 million into the state general fund.  These cases bring the Attorney General’s current total number of known recoveries for Mississippi related to the financial and mortgage crisis to $76,144,000.

“Mississippi was hurt by the greed of bigger business during the foreclosure crisis,” said Attorney General Hood.  “It is my hope that the recovery of this money will help the State rebound in a significant way.”

Mississippi can expect to see payment from the S&P settlement by March 7.