JPMorgan Agrees to Tentative $13 Billion Settlement with U.S. Over Bad Mortgages
October 19th, 2013Woh. It they are agreeing to a $13 billion settlement, one has to wonder about the true magnitude of the damage caused by JPM’s behavior. These settlements typically represent pennies-on-the-dollar wrist slaps which seem to encourage companies to attempt even greater frauds.
Via: Washington Post:
JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank, has reached a tentative agreement with the Justice Department to pay a record $13 billion to resolve allegations that it knowingly sold faulty mortgage securities that contributed to the financial crisis, a person familiar with the talks said Saturday.
If finalized, the deal would be the largest penalty ever paid by a single company, representing a tremendous win for the government after years of public criticism over its struggle to hold Wall Street accountable for its crisis-era misdeeds.
It would also leave JPMorgan and its executives still at risk of criminal prosecution, a humbling concession. The bank emerged from the financial crisis relatively unscathed but has struggled to shake off the vestiges of that era. Like many banks, it has been accused of selling bad residential mortgages to investors, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which lost billions when the housing market crashed.
