JP Morgan is near a final settlement of probes into its London Whale derivatives loss and expects to pay about $700 million, according to source familiar with the matter. Completion of the deal depends on coordinating agreements with multiple government agencies, the source said. [Reuters]
There are a lot of things that, if you wanted to, you could legitimately blame on former JP Morgan employee London P. Whale. The $6.2 billion trading loss the bank incurred over the summer. Ina Drew getting fired. This awkward phone call. Some stuff you can't pin on him, though many have tried: male pattern baldness, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Apple Maps, Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy, tempting as it may be.
Any money the banks are making now should apparently be earmarked for future payouts to regulators, of which there will be many.
So that's something new and exciting.