JPMorgan facing dozen legal probes
By Mark DeCambre November 1, 2013 | 4:02pm
Photo: AFP/Getty Images
JPMorgan’s breathtaking list of legal woes now stretches from hiring practices in Hong Kong to energy market manipulation in California to bank fraud in Milan.
In its latest corporate confession, the nation’s biggest bank disclosed that it’s facing more than a dozen civil and criminal investigations into its virtually every aspect of its business.
Beyond the infamous “London Whale” debacle, the bank is also being investigated over mortgage-bond sales, improper foreclosure practices, interest-rate rigging and power market manipulation, according to JPMorgan’s latest quarterly filing with regulators.
Although the bank didn’t reveal any new investigations, taken together they underscore the multitude of legal and regulatory challenges confronting JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon.
Indeed, earlier this month JPMorgan took the unusual step of disclosing that it had set aside a whopping $23 billion to tackle potential legal problems.
According to the bank’s latest filing, the SEC’s enforcement division has joined the probe into whether the bank hired the progeny of well-connected China officials in order to secure plum business assignments in the country.
The DoJ and foreign regulators also are looking into the bank’s China hiring practices.
The bank also disclosed that the Southern District of New York is pursuing a criminal probe over allegations of manipulating electricity prices in California and the Midwest.
JPMorgan settled similar power market accusations back in July with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, agreeing to pay $410 million in penalties and disgorge $125 million in profits for its bidding practices.
Meanwhile, the bank is still working toward a $13 billion settlement with the Department of Justice over the sale of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the financial crisis.
Despite the wide-ranging issues, JPMorgan officials believe the bank is finally making headway on its raft of legal and regulatory woes after years of wrangling, according to sources.
Investors didn’t appear rattled by the bank’s admissions. The stock was up $1.09, or more than 2 percent, in late afternoon trading at $52.41.
