It was reported this week that Bank of America is close to reaching a $8.5 billion settlement on mortgage backed securities claims from investors that lost money on such claims.  See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/28/bank-of-america-nears-85b-mortgage-settlement_n_886412.html?ref=email_share.  See also http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304447804576414222265248768.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEADNewsCollection. The payment would be the largest such settlement by a financial-services firm to date, exceeding the total profits of the [...]