KPMG US was granted preliminary approval by a
US federal judge to pay a $24 million settlement over its audit
work at mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp.
A lawsuit alleged Countrywide investors had
been misled about lending practices. In May, Bank of America, which
owns Countrywide, agreed to pay $600 million to resolve the
class-action, while KPMG agreed to pay $24 million.
Judge Mariana Pfaelzer granted preliminary
approval to the settlement at a hearing in Los Angeles federal
court earlier this week.
The final hearing will be held 15
November.
The lawsuit is led by several pension funds on
behalf of Countrywide investors between March 2004 and March 2008.
Countrywide was the largest US mortgage lender before Bank of
America acquired it for $2.5 billion in July 2008.
The pension funds alleged Countrywide chief executive Angelo Mozilo
and other officials misled them about the lender’s reliance on
subprime and ‘option’ adjustable-rate mortgages to fuel rapid
growth, while assuring them Countrywide would survive a housing
market crisis.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission accused Mozilo of insider
trading over his realisation of more than $139 million of improper
profit through stock options in 2006 and 2007.
