Mozilo: Borrowers made us do it

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Angelo Mozilo is sticking by his story: Countrywide Financial has done nothing wrong, and he’s done nothing wrong. In a length profile today, the New York Times reports, ‘To this day, he says his beleaguered company did nothing wrong during the loose-lending craze that is now unraveling nationwide with record foreclosures and mountainous losses. Instead, Mr. Mozilo considers himself and his company to be victims of financial forces beyond their control.’

More: ‘At a conference sponsored by the Milken Institute about two weeks ago, for example, he explained that borrowers forced lenders like Countrywide to lower their mortgage standards.’

Highlights of the NYTimes profile:
--Mozilo, who picks his spots with the media, declined to be interviewed for the story.
--Equilar, an independent compensation research firm, calculates Mozilo has taken home $410 million since 1999.
--An unnamed ‘former insider’ at Countrywide scoffs at the idea that Countrywide was pressured by borrowers and competitors to offer risky loans: ‘How can you say that it is not you that is causing it, if in fact you dominate the market?”
--Corporate governance watchdog Nell Minnow gives Countrywide’s board an ‘F’ grade and observes, ‘We would give them a lower grade if we had one. ... They overpay their chief executive. They have the strongest possible antitakeover defenses and they don’t seem to know how to manage risk.”

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Big giant hat tip: Thanks to Annette Haddad for filling in; we hope she’ll be back soon.
Photo Credit: Reuters