As one condition of the settlement stemming from their role in the subprime mortgage crisis, Bank of America was permitted to deflect payments that would otherwise go to the Treasury to a list of non-governmental organizations approved by the government.

Sean Higgins at the Washington Examiner criticizes the settlement. Also harshly critical is a previous 2014 editorial from the Investor’s Business Daily editorial board, going so far as to label the settlement “extortion.”

Hearings on the issue took place last month. Among the testimonies against the settlement were that of Ambassador Boyden Gray, Professor Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz of the Georgetown University Law Center, and Paul J. Larkin Jr. of the Heritage Foundation. Testifying in favor of the settlement terms was Professor David K. Min of the UC-Irvine School of Law.