Record mortgage settlement pushes Bank of America into Q3 loss

REUTERS - Bank of America Corp , the second-largest U.S. bank, reported a quarterly loss applicable to common shareholders, largely due to a huge mortgage settlement with the U.S. government.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank posted a net loss attributable to shareholders of $70 million, or 1 cent per share for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with a year-earlier profit of $2.22 billion, or 20 cents per share.

Net income including preferred stock dividends fell to $168 million from $2.5 billion.

The bank agreed in August to pay a record $16.65 billion to resolve accusations that it misled investors into buying mortgage bonds that ended up going sour, resolving the bulk of its legal issues stemming from the financial crisis.

Analysts had expected the bank to post a loss of 9 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the reported figure was comparable.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal and Peter Rudegeair; Editing By Ted Kerr)