Business Briefs: Citigroup to pay settlement

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Citigroup to pay settlement

Citigroup says it has agreed to pay $1.13 billion to settle claims by investors seeking that the lender buy back billions in residential mortgage-backed securities.

The New York-based investment bank said Monday that the pact it reached with 18 institutional investors calls for Citigroup to make a binding offer to the trustees of 68 Citi-sponsored trusts that bundled some $59.4 billion in home loans into securities from 2005 to 2008.

The settlement offer, which must be approved by the trustees and the court, would release Citi from having to buy back mortgages sold to the trusts.


Medicare Advantage payments to rise

The government has raised its payment estimate for Medicare Advantage plans for nearly 16 million Americans.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Monday that 2015 payments to the plans should increase less than 1 percent overall. That compares to a drop of nearly 2 percent that the government forecast in February. Analysts expect actual funding to fall, when many other variables are considered. But the drop shouldn't be as steep as they initially forecast.

"It's a good day for (the) plans," Avalere Health analyst Matthew Eyles said.