Opening Bell: 09.19.13
JPMorgan Agrees to Pay $920 Million for London Whale Loss (Bloomberg)
JP Morgan, seeking to end probes of a $6.2 billion trading debacle, admitted to violating federal securities laws and agreed to pay about $920 million for failing to implement adequate controls and providing incomplete information to regulators and its board. Senior management knew in April 2012 that the bank’s chief investment office in London, which was responsible for the loss, was using aggressive valuations that hid $750 million in losses, the Securities and Exchange Commission said today in a statement. Some executives “expressed reservations” at signing off on JPMorgan’s first-quarter earnings filings last year as required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the SEC said.
Dimon Expects No Charges In Whale (NYP)
The embattled JPMorgan Chase CEO doesn’t expect the bank or any executive to face criminal charges stemming from the FBI probe into the “London whale” fiasco, The Post has learned. Federal agents have been looking into the complex derivative trade that blew up in the bank’s London office and cost JPM $6.2 billion — and cost Dimon some of his reputation as an ace manager of risk — since shortly after it became known in the spring of 2012. While the FBI probe is ongoing, there is not enough evidence to support criminal charges, people familiar with the bank said.
JP Morgan keeps top spot in investment bank league table (Reuters)
The bank retained its position as No. 1 investment bank by revenues for the first half of 2013 and took the top spot in all three categories: fixed income, equities and advisory, a survey showed on Thursday.
Bill Gross ‘Not Braggin’ After Call on Short-Term Treasuries (Bloomberg)
Bill Gross got it right when he recommended short-maturity Treasuries this week. “Not braggin’ but what did we tell you,” Gross, who runs the world’s biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., wrote on Twitter yesterday.
Angry driver admits hurling feces in face of Hoboken parking officer (NJ)
Police were called Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 9:18 p.m to Bloomfield and First streets on the report of a woman fighting with a parking officer, reports said. A large crowd had apparently gathered around the two to watch. The parking enforcement officer told police that she was leaving the HPU offices at City Hall when the woman approached her and began arguing over a parking ticket she had received earlier from the worker, reports said. The HPU worker told police that as she was getting into her boyfriend’s car to leave, her attacker opened the car door and continued the argument, reports said. After the worker said she was going to call her supervisor, the woman threw a substance in the HPU officer’s face that was later confirmed to be feces, reports said. The two woman began to tussle until witnesses separated them, according to reports....She initially denied throwing poop at the HPU employee but later admitted that she had done it after scooping the feces up from the ground nearby in a paper cup, reports said.
BofA Plea: No Blame For Crisis (NYP)
Bank of America asked a court to bar prosecutors from presenting trial evidence and claims that the bank and its Countrywide unit “are responsible for causing the worldwide financial crisis in whole or in part.” “Evidence or argument that attempts to link a particular defendant to the nation’s recent economic struggles, whether it be the government’s fiscal troubles or any of the multitude of negative effects of the mortgage crisis and recession, is unfairly prejudicial,” lawyers for Countrywide and BofA said in papers filed late Wednesday in US District Court in Manhattan. The US sued Bank of America, run by CEO Brian Moynihan, intervening in a whistle-blower action filed by ex-Countrywide exec Edward O’Donnell. The US claims BofA and Countrywide, which it acquired in 2008, sold thousands of defective loans from 2007 to 2009 to the home-mortgage finance companies. The trial is to begin next week.
Austerity Seen Easing With Change To EU Budget Policy (WSJ)
The change responds to criticism that European Union rules have aggravated the bloc's downturn by requiring that governments narrow their budget deficits—even in countries with deeply depressed labor markets or shrinking economies.
The Black Tim Tebow: Giants Star Says He's Still A Virgin (NYP)
Giants starting cornerback Prince Amukamara said in an interview with Muscle & Fitness that he’s never had a drink in his life and he remains a virgin. A devout Catholic, Amukamara said he has been called “the black Tim Tebow” by peers...Amukamara, 24, said he told his fiancé Pilar Davis that he might have his first alcoholic beverage at his bachelor party, but he’s not sure.