When Wall Street’s addiction to mortgage-backed securities nearly destroyed the global economy, the banks did what addicts do: deny, deflect, justify. It took Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan to snap the industry back to reality in the courts.
The firm’s efforts culminated in May 2015, with an $806 million verdict against Nomura Holdings and RBS Securities that undermined the banks’ claims to be victims of the financial crisis. By then, 16 banks that sold mortgage bonds to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had already paid $20 billion in settlements to Quinn Emanuel’s client, the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
