CDO banks face last-minute court crapshoot

Total losses from the credit crisis amount to $1.8 trillion, much of that suffered by buyers of supposedly low risk structured credit securitizations that turned out to be garbage. Yet very few have won any recompense through the courts from the creators of these toxic securities. Litigants have to prove not only that these were terrible investments but also that misrepresentation through fraudulent underwriting and sloppy due diligence were key contributors to investors’ losses. That’s been tough to establish and banks are beginning to hope they’ve escaped the worst. A three-year statute of limitations is looming.