BofA gets what it pays for.

• Position: CHARLOTTE REGION

So much for being a good deal. In August, Charlotte-based Bank of America settled its latest beef with the U.S. Department of Justice for $16.7 billion, the most money a federal agency has ever extracted from a company. The pact resolves numerous investigations into how BofA and companies it bought--Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch--packaged and sold mortgage-backed securities, which were marketed as secure investments but collapsed when the housing bubble burst. Some outstanding litigation remains, but this is "the beginning of the end," says Tony Plath, an associate professor of finance at UNC Charlotte. "Those last few pieces need to be cleaned up, and then they'll be able to go back to thinking like Bank of America." BofA agreed to buy Calabasas, Calif.-based Countrywide in 2008 for $4 billion, which then-CEO Ken Lewis called an "attractive price" for the nation's largest home lender. The bargain has turned into...