ABSTRACT
Introduction In 2005, Countrywide Financial Corporation originated $490 billion of residential mortgages and was the largest mortgage lender in the US market. Countrywide bundled most mortgages into pools which it sold either completely or in part through mortgage-backed securities. In 2005, Countrywide reported $451.6 million in pre-tax earnings from sale of mortgages (amounting to 10.9% of the company’s overall pre-tax earnings).1
