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Wall Street’s Reckless Practices

'Prosecutors portrayed Bank of America’s mortgage operations as emblematic of Wall Street’s reckless practices in the heady days before the financial crisis. Under pressure to generate profits, the lawsuit said, Bank of America pressured employees to churn through mortgage evaluations. The instructions for slipshod standards stemmed from the top of the bank, the lawsuit said. One employee, according to the lawsuit, said that her job was to “basically validate the loans,” rather than to comb through them to spot flaws.

'The goal, the employee said, was to get through mortgage applications swiftly. She was told by her superiors, prosecutors claimed to “keep her opinions to herself”.'

 

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