NEW YORK (AFP) - Bank of America will pay US$9.3 billion (S$11.7 billion) to settle US charges that it sold bad mortgage-backed securities to mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae ahead of the housing bust.

The settlement, arranged with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie and Freddie, covers securities sold by BofA as well as by Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, which were acquired by the bank.