BankThink

Receiving Wide Coverage ...London Whale Investigations: Federal probes into JPMorgan Chase's disastrous 'London Whale' trades may finally be coming to a close. The Journal reported that Whale trader Bruno Iksil is "unlikely to face charges" from the fiasco, but that "Mr. Iksil is no longer a focus of investigators, people familiar with the situation said." The FT said the bank is set "to admit wrongdoing in a civil settlement with" U.S. and U.K. officials. The admission "would be a departure from the controversial practice of banks neither admitting nor denying culpability." The Times said such a concession to the Securities and Exchange Commission "would set an important precedent" for the agency. Up to this point, the Post said, "the agency has routinely used boilerplate language that allows defendants to pay fines without acknowledging liability, a policy that has been criticized by some judges."

Its landing page should make it easy for prospective customers to see where to sign up for an account, research interest rates and apply for a loan or credit card.

Migrating to EMV does not mean card issuers have to do away with their instant-issuance systems.

After President Obama's comment regarding the housing market becoming constrained with regulations, bank regulators may start to feel the pressure to ease back on pending mortgage rules.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency should further narrow the circumstances in which Fannie or Freddie can make a lender repurchase a loan. This would encourage lending and strengthen the recovery.

Buyers, sellers and shareholders rarely profit from bank acquisitions, the author argues. There are too many things that have to go right in the pricing and integration, and there is too much that can go wrong.

Now the pressure is on banks to develop creative new products and services and work harder to show their value.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...JPM Under Fire: JPMorgan Chase disclosed in a filing on Wednesday that the U.S. Justice Department has opened up a criminal and civil probe into its sale of mortgage-backed securities leading up to the crisis. Per the filing, investigators have "preliminarily concluded that the firm violated certain federal securities laws" while selling subprime mortgage securities to investors. Both JPM and the DOJ are declining to comment further at this time. News outlet say the investigation is powered by President Obama's federal mortgage task force, announced back in January 2012. Per the Washington Post, "the investigation is the latest sign that federal prosecutors and regulators are not letting up in their efforts to hold Wall Street accountable for actions related to the crisis," which, yes, conflicts, with a Journal report from earlier this week that suggested the SEC, at least, was losing steam when it came to crisis-related investigations. The Journal's more recent article on JPM's latest woes calls the DOJ's potential action against the bank "another illustration of how regulators and government investigators are still working through a backlog of cases focused on banks' activities during the housing downturn and financial crisis." (Scan readers will recall that on Tuesday federal prosecutors filed civil actions against Bank of America for alleging misleading mortgage-backed securities investors in 2008.) The Journal also notes the potential penalties "open up a new set of problems for JPMorgan, a bank already operating under four enforcement actions, more than any other big U.S. bank." Dealbook concurs: "Once a darling in regulatory circles, JPMorgan has become a magnet for scrutiny in recent years, drawing attention from at least eight federal agencies, a state regulator and two European nations."

Technologies like webcasts, email, instant messages and cloud sharing are making it harder to maintain confidentiality and attorney-client privilege in deal negotiations.

The decline of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could usher in a mortgage renaissance for community banks facilitated by their natural partner, the Federal Home Loan Bank System.