On March 5, 2015, the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division approved in its entirety the $8.5 billion Countrywide RMBS settlement negotiated by Gibbs & Bruns LLP on behalf of its RMBS clients, including PIMCO, Blackrock, MetLife and others. This is a resounding victory which received worldwide top billing in the financial press with The New York Times reporting it as “likely to be the single biggest settlement tied to the subprime mortgage boom and the subsequent financial crisis of 2008.” The Wall Street Journal labeled the deal a “mammoth settlement” by a group of “high-profile investors” and as the “turning point in Wall Street’s epic struggle with the fallout from the financial crisis.” An analyst for Credit Agricole stated that the settlement is “the most significant step since the financial crisis that helps” in “improving the economy.”
Settlement of this matter is final. On October 13, 2015 the Trustee certified that all conditions to payment of the $8.5 billion had occurred. Bank of America will make the payment on or before February 10, 2016.