JPMorgan Considers $11B Mortgage-Backed Securities Settlement

Now that US Attorney General Eric Holder has turned down JPMorgan Chase’s (JPM) offer to settle criminal and civil charges related a mortgage-backed securities probe, the financial firm is looking at a settlement of possibly $11 billion. The financial figure has gone up as talks have expanded to include additional cases with more regulators.

The MBS investigations are over residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) that JPMorgan, Washington Mutual (WAMUQ), and Bear Stearns (BSC) issued between 2005 and 2007. Authorities have been looking into whether JPMorgan, which the other two firms acquired during the financial crisis, misled investors of the quality of the mortgages that were backing the securities. A lot of these RMBS failed as housing prices dropped. JPMorgan says that Washington Mutual and Bear Stearns issued about 70% of these RMBS.

One possible settlement could include $4 billion in relief to consumers and a $7 billion penalty. However, according to sources familiar with the settlement talks, the two sides have not come close to agreeing on the figure and the amount could change.

JPMorgan wants any settlement to confirm that the investigations are done and there will be no additional liability related to the MBS. Aside from the expected fine, the US Justice Department may try to get JPMorgan to admit wrongdoing, which the latter might consent to so as to avoid criminal charges. However, sources say that even if a deal is reached, the issue of whether anyone should be criminally charged over the RMBS losses may not be resolved.

Also part of the settlement talks is the Federal Housing Finance Agency. FHFA wants JPMorgan to pay over $6 billion to settle claims accusing the investment bank of misleading Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae about the mortgages that they bought from the bank during the housing bubble. Meantime, NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, wants recovery from JPMorgan over securities that the latter bought, which were issued by Bear Stearns as that firm was failing. Schneiderman contends that investors lost $22 billion.

It was just last year that JPMorgan settled the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s MBS case for $296.6 million. However, the bank settled without denying or admitting wrongdoing.

Last week, JPMorgan settled for $920 million with regulators over the London “whale” trading investigations. That debacle cost the financial firm over $6 billion last year. JPMorgan also consented to pay $80 million for credit card practice-related claims to its sale of identity fraud protection to customers who never received these products.

The SSEK Partners Group represents high net worth individuals and institutional investors in securities arbitration, mediation, and litigation. We are here to help our clients recoup their RMBS fraud losses.

JPMorgan in talks to settle government probes for $11 billion: sources, Reuters, September 25, 2013

JPMorgan Talks Said to See Possible $11 Billion Settlement, Bloomberg, September 26, 2013

More Blog Posts:
JPMorgan to Pay $920M to Settle London Whale Debacle & $80M Over Credit-Card Practice Allegations, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, September 19, 2013

JPMorgan Could Settle “London Whale” Fiasco for $800M, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, September 17, 2013

California AG Files Lawsuit Against JP Morgan Chase Alleging Debt Collection Abuse Over 100,000 Credit Card Cases, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, May 16, 2013