In an article published in the Wall Street Journal of today:
"J.P. Morgan has offered to pay about $3 billion as it seeks to settle criminal and civil investigations by federal and state prosecutors into its mortgage-backed-securities activities, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
A settlement on residential mortgage-backed securities would solve one of the bank's biggest legal problems. The largest U.S. bank by assets faces at least seven Justice Department probes, on matters ranging from energy trading to its hiring practices in China.
The offer from the bank shows that its top executives and board are weighing the time and effort needed to fight, as well as the impact on the bank's reputation and employee morale, according to people familiar with the bank's strategy. At the same time, they are wary of agreeing to settlement terms that could open them up to additional private litigation, the people said.
The mortgage-backed-securities talks are fluid and a settlement is far from certain, according to people familiar with the matter. Government lawyers could decide the dollar value offered by J.P. Morgan isn't enough for the number of cases it wants to resolve. And there could still be disagreements over what sort of admissions, if any, the bank would make as part of such a deal".
"J.P. Morgan has offered to pay about $3 billion as it seeks to settle criminal and civil investigations by federal and state prosecutors into its mortgage-backed-securities activities, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
A settlement on residential mortgage-backed securities would solve one of the bank's biggest legal problems. The largest U.S. bank by assets faces at least seven Justice Department probes, on matters ranging from energy trading to its hiring practices in China.
The offer from the bank shows that its top executives and board are weighing the time and effort needed to fight, as well as the impact on the bank's reputation and employee morale, according to people familiar with the bank's strategy. At the same time, they are wary of agreeing to settlement terms that could open them up to additional private litigation, the people said.
The mortgage-backed-securities talks are fluid and a settlement is far from certain, according to people familiar with the matter. Government lawyers could decide the dollar value offered by J.P. Morgan isn't enough for the number of cases it wants to resolve. And there could still be disagreements over what sort of admissions, if any, the bank would make as part of such a deal".
