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Cultura

GE to "vigorously contest" mortgage lawsuit


    BOSTON (Reuters) - General Electric Co said it would "vigorously contest" a lawsuit by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which said the conglomerate's former WMC unit made inaccurate statements about the sale of two residential mortgage-backed securities.

    GE was one of 17 large banks and financial institutions sued on Friday by the FHFA, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , over losses on $200 billion of subprime bonds.

    Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE said in a statement on Wednesday that the two transactions federal regulators are questioning amounted to $549 million and that $66 million in principal remain on them.

    GE sold the WMC subprime mortgage lending business in 2007.

    Other big financial institutions targeted in the suit include JPMorgan Chase & Co , Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of America Corp , including its Countrywide and Merrill Lynch arms.

    (Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)