The news at a glance

Housing: U.S. sues banks for mortgage losses

What promises to be a long and “bruising legal fight” between the U.S. government and the country’s major banks began last week, said Nelson D. Schwartz and Kevin Roose in The New York Times. Federal regulators filed lawsuits against 17 large financial institutions, including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup, accusing them of knowingly selling $200 billion in toxic mortgage-backed securities to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The banks claim they shouldn’t be held responsible for Fannie’s and Freddie’s losses, calling the agencies “sophisticated investors.” It’s unclear how much the government hopes to recoup, but if a similar suit filed against UBS this summer is any guide, the claim against Bank of America alone could “equal a $10 billion hit.”

The government moved out of “sheer necessity,” said Adam Sorensen in Time.com. Nearly three years after Fannie and Freddie were placed in conservatorship, the statute of limitations on these suits was a week away from expiring. Resolution will not come soon. In fact, these suits complicate matters for the 50 state attorneys general, who are negotiating a settlement with the big banks over foreclosure fraud. It may now be harder for them to use immunity from future prosecution as a bargaining chip.

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Banking: Bank of New York Mellon CEO fired

The head of one of the country’s biggest financial institutions was abruptly asked to resign by his board of directors last week because of his “abrasive management style,” said Margaret Popper in CNBC​.com. Robert Kelly, CEO of Bank of New York Mellon since 2007, stepped down because of “differences in approach to managing,” the bank said. Bank of New York Mellon is the world’s largest custody bank, holding more than $26 trillion in assets.

Jobs: Businesses say regulation isn’t the problem

Excessive government regulations aren’t preventing small-business owners from hiring, said Kevin G. Hall in McClatchyDC.com. In a random sample of “mom-and-pop operations” around the country, “none of the business owners complained about regulation in their particular industries, and most seemed to welcome it.” Business owners said the real barriers to expansion are “a lack of customers” and low access to loans. “It starts with jobs,” said Barry Grant, a California homebuilding executive. “There’s an awful lot of people sitting on the fence.”

Computers: Samsung-Apple tablet war heats up

Samsung has suffered a setback in its legal battle with Apple over the companies’ tablet computers, said Jung-Ah Lee and Evan Ramstad in The Wall Street Journal. Apple has accused Samsung of “slavishly” copying the iPad’s design, resulting in 19 lawsuits in nine countries. After a German court ordered Samsung to halt sales of two of its Galaxy tablets, the company this week pulled tablets from displays at Europe’s largest electronics show, in Berlin. The legal tussle could result in Samsung’s “missing out on an entire product generation.”

Autos: Honda announces second major recall

Honda is recalling nearly 940,000 cars worldwide just weeks after announcing a previous major recall in the U.S., said CNNMoney.com. The Japanese carmaker said design flaws in the power windows of its Fit and CR-V lines could cause fires. The move comes on the heels of a recall of 1.5 million Hondas in the U.S. last month because of transmission problems. The company, which has been struggling to recover from operational disruptions due to the March earthquake in Japan, was recently stung by a “scathing” Consumer Reports review of its 2012 Civic compact.