JPMorgan Near a Settlement in Madoff Case
Source: New York Times
JANUARY 6, 2014, 9:19 AM
JPMorgan Near a Settlement in Madoff Case
BY SYDNEY EMBER
JPMorgan Chase is starting the year the same way it ended the last one: by whipping out its wallet, Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Ben Protess report in DealBook. The bank is preparing to reach roughly $2 billion in criminal and civil settlements with federal authorities who claim that it ignored signs of Bernard L. Madoffs huge Ponzi scheme, bringing its settlement total to nearly $20 billion over the last year. The settlements come on the heels of a record $13 billion deal with the Justice Department in November related to the banks questionable mortgage practices leading up to the financial crisis.
The Madoff settlement involves a so-called deferred prosecution agreement, a criminal action that would essentially suspend an indictment as long as JPMorgan acknowledged the facts of the governments case and changed its behavior. It is nearly unheard-of for an American bank. The deal calls for the bank to pay more than $1 billion to the prosecutors in Manhattan and the rest to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Some of the payout will be earmarked for Mr. Madoffs victims, according to unidentified people briefed on the case.
While no individual executives have been accused of wrongdoing, federal prosecutors are expected to cite JPMorgan for a criminal violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, though prosecutors will only call for a fine and the deferred prosecution agreement, rather than demand the bank plead guilty to the criminal violation as had been considered at one point.
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http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/01/06/morning-agenda-jpmorgan-near-a-settlement-in-madoff-case/