On October 23, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) agreed to pay $42.5 million to the State of Nevada in a settlement to end an investigation by the Nevada Attorney General into RBS’s mortgage acquisition and securitization business.  The investigation focused particularly on RBS’s acquisition and securitization of subprime and pay-option adjustable rate mortgages originated by Countrywide and Option One.  The Nevada Attorney General’s investigation concerned potential misrepresentations made in connection with the origination of those loans as well as RBS’s potential awareness of the originators’ allegedly deceptive practices.  In addition to the settlement payment, RBS agreed to certain conditions for its future financing of subprime and pay option mortgages secured by Nevada properties, including a “reasonable review” requirement to ensure that the loans adequately disclose interest rate and payment information and are based on documented borrower income.  In entering into the settlement, RBS did not admit to any wrongdoing.  Agreement.