The Avanti Group
When JPMorgan Chase emerged from the financial crisis as one of the stronger banks left in the US financial industry, the list of legal proceedings it published as part of its quarterly regulatory filings ran to two pages. Fast forward five years and that list have jumped to a startling 10 pages long.
The bank, now the second-biggest in the US by market capitalization, has been inundated by a string of recent regulatory investigations, ranging from continued fallout over the $6bn “London Whale” trading loss it incurred last year to a new criminal probe related to the sale of mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis.
On Sunday, it emerged that US regulators were scrutinizing the bank’s hiring practices in Hong Kong – focusing on JPMorgan’s recruitment of the sons and daughters of prominent Chinese officials and business leaders. A day later came news that prosecutors were investigating whether the bank manipulated US energy markets.
The bank’s regulatory problems could well intensify in the coming months. One person familiar with the US securities regulator’s thinking said that authorities had “lost trust” with the bank, meaning additional scrutiny might be on its way.