BOURNEMOUTH’S biggest private employer has reached a settlement in its home country over claims it misled two large mortgage providers.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in the USA has announced it has reached a settlement with JP Morgan Chase & Co, which employs around 5,000 staff at its Chaseside offices at Littledown, and related companies.

They will pay $4 billion - £2.4bn - to address claims of alleged violations of federal and state securities laws in connection with private-label, residential mortgage-backed securities (PLS) purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two of the USA’s mortgage giants.

JP Morgan will pay $2.74 billion to Freddie Mac and $1.26 billion to Fannie Mae to resolve claims related to securities sold by it and Bear Stearns & Co., Inc. and Washington Mutual to the companies between 2005 and 2007.

In separate settlements, JP Morgan resolved representation and warranty claims with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac related to single-family mortgage purchases by the two companies.

For these, it will pay $670 million to Fannie Mae and $480 million to Freddie Mac.

FHFA acting director Edward J. DeMarco said: “The satisfactory resolution of t he private-label securities litigation with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. provides greater certainty in the marketplace and is in line with our responsibility for preserving and conserving Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s assets on behalf of taxpayers.

“This is a significant step as the government and J. P. Morgan Chase move to address outstanding mortgage-related issues.

“Further, I am pleased that a resolution of single family, whole loan representation and warranty claims could be achieved at the same time. This, too, will have a beneficial impact for taxpayers and the housing finance market.” The settlement is the biggest-ever by a US bank.

Last week, JP Morgan agreed to pay £8billion - $13billion - to settle allegations surrounding the quality of mortgage-backed securities it sold in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.