US 'consumer relief' ruling can enrich big banks

New York

IN EVERY multibillion dollar settlement with a big bank that peddled faulty mortgage securities, a major provision has been a requirement that the bank provide "consumer relief". In the case of JPMorgan Chase, for instance, the nation's largest bank satisfied its requirement to provide US$4 billion in consumer relief in September by modifying and restructuring mortgages for about 169,000 borrowers - many of them the bank's own customers.

Goldman Sachs, which is not in the business of making home loans, is see…