Wells Fargo Bank and HSBC Bank intentionally steered African-Americans who qualified for conventional mortgages into costlier subprime loans, a lawsuit claims.

The suit, filed Friday by the civil rights group the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, stems from governmental and advocacy group studies indicating that blacks are more likely to wind up with higher-cost subprime loans than whites, even though their income, assets and credit scores are similar, The Los Angeles Times reported.

NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous told the Times that many subprime lenders were subsidiaries or affiliates of mainstream banks, and that when the lenders opened in minority neighborhoods previously underserved by banks, 'the consumers trusted them, because for generations banks and financial institutions had been considered worthy of trust.'

Wells Fargo, based in San Francisco, and HSBC, based in London, denied the allegations, with Wells Fargo releasing a statement saying the suit was 'unfounded and reckless,' adding, 'We have never tolerated, and will never tolerate, discrimination in any way, shape or form.'