Countrywide on the hot seat

Countrywide has no choice but to promise to do better. As the people increasingly question the wisdom of Bank of America's plans to purchase it, it faces criticism in other areas that get to internal control issues. At a congressional hearing, the mortgage giant said it will hire an independent auditor to review its treatment of loans whose borrowers have filed for bankruptcy and review claims of borrower abuse. It also will adopt a series of "best practices" issued by a national group of bankruptcy trustees. An interesting question: Is this a Sarbanes-Oxley issue? On one hand, the issue of abusive fees feeds revenue, which might bring it in-scope. You have to wonder how the auditor's assessed the issue. KPMG is its. As you recall, it took its lumps over the New Century implosion.

For more:
- here's some background from Dow Jones via CNNmoney.com

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