Judge Orders JPMorgan to Explain Withholding Emails
Source: Reuters
Published: Friday, 6 Jul 2012 | 6:30 AM ET Text Size
By: Reuters
A U.S. judge has ordered JPMorgan Chase to explain why the court should not force the bank to turn over 25 internal emails demanded as part of an investigation into whether it manipulated electricity markets in California and the Midwest.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) filed a petition in federal court in Washington on Monday asking the court to order the bank to show cause as to why it would not comply with a subpoena issued by the commission as part of its investigation into the bank's power trading.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly gave the bank until July 13 to submit an explanation as to why the court should not enforce FERC's subpoenas. JPMorgan has asserted the emails are protected by the attorney-client privilege. snip
The FERC tangle threatens to become another dent in JPMorgan Chairman Jamie Dimon's once sterling reputation, although the real cost is almost certain to be negligible compared to the bank's disastrous "London Whale" derivative trades that may cost it $4 billion to $6 billion.
Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/id/48091690
Well, well, well, now we find out JPM has been manipulating the power market in CA and elsewhere. Shades of Enron.
Who cares if people can't afford electricity in their homes as long as JPM's Dimon and other upper echelon execs and shareholders get their big profits.
Swede Atlanta
(3,596 posts)we need transparency in our politics and in our business as it relates to corporate behavior vis a vis their business partners and customers.
The unethical behavior we have seen by businesses is nearly an epidemic. It is ridiculous.
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)The Big Bankers do not want the American people to know how much of their profit comes from laundering the drug monies.
And it is worse than that. In some cases, a drug cartel family sends one of its "clean" family members to the USA, with enough money so they can buy a bank or create a bank. Then that family member is now a respected person inside the American community where they live. And they often go on and on to the media about how awful drugs are, and how there is a real need to keep them illegal.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)The drug wars have been a colossal mistake for the US public - for the banksters and elite financial types, not so much.
Enrique
(27,461 posts)he's working at JP Morgan!
Ghost of Huey Long
(322 posts)Enron was just practice...and heck they got away with that (thanks Arnold), Kenny conveniently died, so onward and upward, why not? Maybe Ken Lay is still doing the work himself under another name from some undisclosed location.
ieoeja
(9,748 posts)... forces them to cancel my $200k line of equity? I have no mortgage, so that $350k is 100% equity.
More to the point I would like to know why they did not inform me until 1 week after they cancelled it. It is a good thing I do not use the bloody thing.
And why was I able to see my tax bill online yesterday, but today the county says my property does not exist? I'm starting to wonder if I am about to be the victim of one of their mortgage fuckups where they go after someone who doesn't even have a mortgage.
citizen blues
(574 posts)I used to work in finance. All of the banks cancelled or reduced their lines of equity. One of the conditions of them receiving trillions in federal dollars during the bailout was that they had to reduce their exposure to future losses. So instead of looking at their own risky behavior i.e. compulsive gambling, they chose to pass it on to the consumer by reducing potential defaults on lines of equity.
You're not alone in what happened to you. I know a lot of people this happened to. I have one friend who had a $100,000 line of equity on a fully paid/fully owned townhouse style condominium. B of A reduced that to $1000 for no reason.
Very little has been said about it, but what the banks did with their lines of equity actually devastated the economy even more. Small businesses use lines of equity and lines of credit to carry them through slower times and then pay them off during the busier seasons. Entrepreneurs went into the slower season of January and February of 2009 without that cushion. As a result there were a lot of small businesses that couldn't make payroll and had to lay off workers. Many simply didn't survive, which meant bankruptcy, foreclosure, etc. The end result was the economic situation worsened far more than it would have if those banking services had still been in tact and available.
In the meantime, the banks used TARP funds to spend millions and millions on marketing. They blanketed the country with massive mail drops offering people high interest personal loans and subprime mortgages. We had so many desperate people calling us, even those who would not have normally done so. And our underwriters approved NOTHING! All the banks touting how much they were doing to help the economy after the bail out lied. It was nothing more than a smokescreen. They simply put on a show.
I know, old news. By the time they shut down a bunch of branches and I lost my job, I was glad to get out of there. Sorry for the rant.
Uncle Joe
(58,987 posts)wordpix
(18,652 posts)My latest is that my bank, where I've banked for 21 years, just sent a notice saying that if I don't have any activity for a certain no. of days they will charge me $15/mo. for every month of inactivity.
I am back and forth between two places due to my sick mother and I bank at each location, so sometimes there is no activity at this particular bank for a few months. I think it's outrageous to charge a fee for someone just holding an account without activity.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)citizen blues
(574 posts)Here's the link:
[link:http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002909272|
ieoeja
(9,748 posts)He was a developer. The buyer had a pre-approved mortgage and purchased the developer's latest project on contingency that it be finished. The bank from which he had gotten short-term loans for decades did not have the money. And the large, bailed-out banks would not loan him the money directly.
Another point about the bank bailout is that the big banks were supposed to pass on their gov't loans to the smaller banks. Instead, in addition to the marketing you mention, they used the money to buy those smaller banks after choking off their money supply.
citizen blues
(574 posts)about them swallowing up smaller banks. The smaller banks were still lending.
dtom67
(634 posts)Why is the judge asking for a reason ? She should be be demanding the 25 e-mails with the full force of the law.
My prediction is that the emails will not be released (publicly), and the Judge will get a nice campaign contribution. Or a VIP loan. Or some other payoff.
wordpix
(18,652 posts)And what is an "acceptable" excuse?
"I was campaigning for Rmoney"
"I'm too busy on summer vacation"
"I'm writing a book about the power industry and US economy"
"My files are a mess and I can't find them"
etc
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Plaintiffs and defendants file papers, called "motions" arguing about an issue, and citing law cases that support their argument.
the judge hears the arguments and decides which one is more valid than the other.
So when the judge gives someone 2 weeks to come up with a reason, what that really means is the banks have 2 weeks to find laws that say they do not have to turn over the emails
and
the prosecutors have 2 weeks to find laws that support turning over the emails.( if they do not have them already)
wordpix
(18,652 posts)get someone good in there to erase, take out old memory and put in new, lots of things could happen
Huey P. Long
(1,932 posts)The whole fucking place, top to bottom is bought and owned. This place, the entire corporate state/nation is a fucking joke.
leftyohiolib
(5,917 posts)lovuian
(19,362 posts)Obama needs to prosecute this bank