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FILE - This, Oct. 14, 2012, file photo shows a Bank of America branch in downtown Miami. How much will Bank of America’s expected $17 billion mortgage settlement cost the company? The answer is, almost certainly not $17 billion. In mega-settlements negotiated with the U.S. government, a dollar is rarely worth an actual dollar. Inflated figures make sensational headlines for the Justice Department, and $17 billion would be the largest settlement by far arising from the economic meltdown in which millions of Americans lost their homes to foreclosure. But the true cost to companies is often obscured by opaque accounting techniques. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File )
Photo by: Lynne Sladky
FILE - This, Oct. 14, 2012, file photo shows a Bank of America branch in downtown Miami. How much will Bank of America’s expected $17 billion mortgage settlement cost the company? The answer is, almost certainly not $17 billion. In mega-settlements negotiated with the U.S. government, a dollar is rarely worth an actual dollar. Inflated figures make sensational headlines for the Justice Department, and $17 billion would be the largest settlement by far arising from the economic meltdown in which millions of Americans lost their homes to foreclosure. But the true cost to companies is often obscured by opaque accounting techniques. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File )

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