JPMorgan's chief executive Jamie Dimon is allegedly begging and complaining to the US Department of Justice over how the government will not end its criminal probe into the bank over mortgage related issues (Photo: Reuters)
JPMorgan's chief executive Jamie Dimon is allegedly begging and complaining to the US Department of Justice over how the government will not end its criminal probe into the bank over mortgage related issues (Photo: Reuters)

JPMorgan's chief executive Jamie Dimon is allegedly begging and complaining to the US Department of Justice over how the government will not end its criminal probe into the bank over mortgage related issues.

While JPM has negotiated a tentative $13bn (£8bn, €9.5bn) settlement with authorities, to put an end to a raft of government mortgage product related probes, the bank is still open to criminal liability.

According to sources cited by Reuters, Dimon is at his wits' end over investigations into mortgage bonds that JPM, and other banks, bought and then sold to investors.

JPM had not returned calls for comment by IBTimes UK by the time of publication.

Mortgage Issues

Mortgage-backed securities, also known as asset-backed securities (ABS), are financial products backed by a loan, lease or receivables against assets other than real estate.

They were largely to blame for the credit crisis of 2007 and 2008.

JPM has set aside a total of $23bn to pay for legal issues, and faces more than a dozen probes globally.

However, putting an end to the criminal aspect of the investigations come as a top priority for Dimon, after the bank was hit by $9.2bn worth of legal expenses and resulted in the US banking giant posting its first ever quarterly loss under his leadership.

The legal expenses, which worked out as $7.2bn after taxes, include money JPM is setting aside for future settlements with authorities.

"While we expect our litigation costs should abate and normalise over time, they may continue to be volatile over the next several quarters," said Dimon in a statement.

Mounting Costs

The bank already stumped up nearly $1bn in fines related to the London Whale trading scandal, which has cost the bank billions of dollars in legal losses.

On the same day JPM was ordered to refund $300m to customers after US regulators ruled that two million clients were harmed by the bank's debt collection and other credit card practices.

Regulators also said that there were errors in the way the investment bank pursued customers through the court. However the refund order is not a fine, so regulators and prosecutors can still slap JPM with financial penalties in the future.

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