Countrywide Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in mortgage lending and other real estate finance related businesses in the United States. It operates in five segments: Mortgage Banking, Banking, Capital Markets, Insurance, and Global Operations. The Mortgage Banking segment originates, purchases, sells, and services non-commercial mortgage loans, as well as provides various loan closing products and services, such as credit reports, flood determinations, and appraisals and title reports. The Banking segment deposits and invests in mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit, as well as provides short-term secured financing to mortgage lenders. This segment also provides safekeeping, collateral review and certification, collateral releases, and customer reporting, as well as committed and uncommitted lines of credit to mortgage bankers to finance their mortgage loan inventories. The Capital Markets segment primarily operates as a registered securities broker-dealer, residential mortgage loan manager, and a commercial mortgage loan originator. Its activities include conduit, underwriting, securities trading, origination and sale of commercial mortgage loans, brokering, and asset management. This segment serves institutional customers, such as banks, other depository institutions, insurance companies, asset managers, mutual funds, pension plans, other broker-dealers, and governmental agencies. The Insurance segment offers property, casualty, automobile, life, and disability insurance, as well as provides reinsurance coverage to primary mortgage insurers. The Global Operations segment provides software licensing and support services. The company, formerly known as OLM Credit Industries, Inc. and Countrywide Credit Industries, Inc., was founded in 1969. Countrywide Financial Corporation is based in Calabasas, California.