$13 Billion Settlement With JPMorgan Is Announced

[babylonsister]

Whoa!

$13 Billion Settlement With JPMorgan Is Announced
By BEN PROTESS and JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG


JPMorgan Chase and the Justice Department finalized a $13 billion settlement on Tuesday, punctuating a long legal battle over the risky mortgage practices that became synonymous with the financial crisis.

The civil settlement, which materialized after months of wrangling, resolves an array of state and federal investigations into JPMorgan’s sale of troubled mortgage securities to pension funds and other investors from 2005 through 2008. The government accused the bank of not fully disclosing the risks of buying such securities, which imploded in 2008 and helped plunge the economy to its lowest depths since the Depression.

JPMorgan’s settlement strikes at the core of the accusations, requiring the bank to pay fines to prosecutors and provide relief to struggling homeowners as well as compensation for harmed investors. JPMorgan initially planned to pay about $3 billion, a position it abandoned midway through negotiations.

The final $13 billion deal eclipses other major Wall Street settlements. In fact, it is the largest sum that a single company has ever paid to the government.

more...

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/13-billion-settlement-with-jpmorgan-is-announced/?smid=fb-share&_r=0

[AndyA]

1. I'm guessing this doesn't include jail time for anyone, and it's probably a drop on the bucket

compared to the money they made from their crimes.

The fine should have been the total of everything they earned from their crimes, then double it. That might hurt.

Better than nothing, now the government can just give it back to them in the form of tax breaks and subsidies.

[Scuba]

2. Steal half a trillion, pay a $13B fine, no one goes to jail.

Wait a few years, repeat.

[spanone]

3. it is the largest sum that a single company has ever paid to the government.