Regulators harpoon JPMorgan's whale
JPMorgan Chase will pay nearly a billion dollars in fines to US and British regulators, after admitting its involvement in the “London Whale” trading kerfuffle.
The banking giant has agreed to pay a whopping $970 million to four regulatory bodies to settle part of the probe of the bank's $6.2 billion of Bruno 'the Whale' Iksin's derivative trading losses last year. Reports say criminal investigations are still under way.
US Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement announcing the settlement: “JPMorgan failed to keep watch over its traders as they overvalued a very complex portfolio to hide massive losses.”
The trading violations "demonstrated flaws permeating all levels of the firm: from portfolio level right up to senior management," said the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the British regulator.
JPMorgan lost about $US6.2 billion in 2012 on the tarnished trading bets.
Bruno Iksil, the financial gambler whose big rolls of the dice earned him the nickname 'London Whale' has cooperated with prosecutors and will not be charged with any wrongdoing. Two of his associates in London have been criminally charged over their role in the scandal, with Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout accused of trying to hide the mounting losses.
JPMorgan will give $US300 million to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, $US200 million to the Federal Reserve, $US200 million to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and 137.6 million pounds ($US219.74 million) to the UK's Financial Conduct Authority.
In its ruling the SEC required JPMorgan to admit publicly that it had violated US securities laws and slammed the firm for its "woefully deficient accounting controls."
The administrative orders from the regulatory bodies stop short of mentioning the failing of any other specific managers. The pay-out is one of the highest ever paid by a bank.