OREANDA-NEWS. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) today announced that it has reached an agreement in principle to resolve the ongoing investigation of the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group of the U.S. Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (RMBS Working Group).

The agreement in principle will resolve actual and potential civil claims by the U.S. Department of Justice, the New York and Illinois Attorneys General, the National Credit Union Administration (as conservator for several failed credit unions) and the Federal Home Loan Banks of Chicago and Seattle, relating to the firm’s securitization, underwriting and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities from 2005 to 2007.

The agreement in principle will reduce earnings for the fourth quarter of 2015 by approximately $1.5 billion on an after-tax basis.

Under the terms of the agreement in principle, the firm will pay a $2.385 billion civil monetary penalty, make $875 million in cash payments and provide $1.8 billion in consumer relief. The consumer relief will be in the form of principal forgiveness for underwater homeowners and distressed borrowers; financing for construction, rehabilitation and preservation of affordable housing; and support for debt restructuring, foreclosure prevention and housing quality improvement programs, as well as land banks.

Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., stated, “We are pleased to have reached an agreement in principle to resolve these matters.”  

The agreement in principle is subject to the negotiation of definitive documentation, and there can be no assurance that the firm, the U.S. Department of Justice and the other applicable governmental authorities will agree on the definitive documentation.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world.