Attorney General Eric Holder announced Wednesday that the Justice Department had reached the largest settlement in U.S. history with Bank of America for discriminatory loan practices of its Countrywide Mortgage division over the past.

The Justice Department lawsuit against the company alleged that Countrywide charged higher prices to African American and Latino customers or steered them to riskier mortgage loans.

The Attorney General was joined by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan,  Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, U.S. Attorney  André Birotte, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin of the Federal Reserve.