WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission is probing how Washington Mutual Inc., the nation’s largest savings and loan, handled mortgages that were possibly based on inflated home appraisals.
“We are voluntarily and fully cooperating with the SEC’s inquiry as well as the (Office of Thrift Supervision) and look forward to bringing the facts to both the regulators and public,” according to a company statement. OTS is the firm’s federal regulator.
Shares of Washington Mutual fell 46 cents to $14.21 in midday trading. The company’s stock has traded between $13.99 and $46.38 in the past year.
SEC spokesman John Nester declined to comment Friday.
Shares of WaMu have dropped about 65 percent since mid-September, following some dismal financial disclosures and a lawsuit filed in November by New York’s attorney general against one of its real estate appraisers, alleging the companies colluded to inflate home values.
WaMu said this month that it was closing offices, laying off more than 3,100 people and that it would no longer issue loans to people with shaky credit histories.
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