Cuomo says ten banks holding back some superstorm Sandy payouts

March 19 (Reuters) - Capital One Financial Corp , Astoria Financial Corp and eight other lenders are holding back payouts of nearly half the insurance funds they received related to superstorm Sandy, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

New York's Department of Financial Services (DFS) has notified the lenders to speed up the payment of the funds to homeowners, the governor said in a statement. ()

These banks are currently holding back 1,109 checks for Sandy insurance claims, totaling nearly $41 million.

The banks, including Nationstar Mortgage, Selene Finance, Sun Trust Mortgage, have the worst statistics relating to payout claims, according to the DFS.

"While we won't be satisfied until every single victim gets every single dollar to which they're entitled, some banks have continued to lag especially far behind the rest and it's well past time for them to pick up the pace," Governor Cuomo said.

In total, the banks that DFS reviewed have paid out more than $1.1 billion in Sandy insurance claims for homeowners.

(Reporting by Jochelle Mendonca in Bangalore; Editing by Supriya Kurane)

(([e-mail], within U.S. [phone], outside U.S. [phone], Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]))

Keywords: SANDYINSURANCE CUOMO/