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Bank CEOs Visit Washington; Is Black Market Bust Good or Bad for Bitcoin?

10/03/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Black Market Bust and Bitcoin: Federal agents yesterday arrested Ross William Ulbricht, the alleged ringleader of "Silk Road," an online drug market that accepted Bitcoin, confiscating about $3.6 million of the digital currency. The bust could have serious implications for Bitcoin, which has grown in popularity over the last few years, at least in part, to the expectation of anonymity. "The federal investigation that led to Ulbricht's arrest shows that even purchases...

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Schneiderman (Once Again) Poised to Sue Wells; Wall St. Infiltrates P-to-P Lending

10/02/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

New York State Regulatory Update: New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman is pushing forward with plans to sue Wells Fargo for allegedly violating the national mortgage settlement, reports the Times' Jessica Silver-Greenberg. American Banker readers will recall Schneiderman warned Wells and Bank of America of a potential lawsuit over alleged servicing settlement violations back in May. "While Wells Fargo is bracing for a lawsuit, Bank of America is poised to announce a...

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Wells Settles with Freddie; Occupy Wall Street Creates Prepaid Debit Card

10/01/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Shutdown: The government shut down after House Republicans and Senate Democrats failed to reach a funding deal before the midnight deadline. Big picture coverage is here: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post

Wells Settles with Freddie: Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $869 million to Freddie Mac to resolve repurchase liabilities on faulty mortgages it sold to the government-sponsored enterprise before 2009. Citigroup signed a similar repurchase deal with...

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All Eyes on Congress as Government Shutdown Looms; CLOs Rising

09/30/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... Shutdown Showdown: News outlets are heavily focused on a looming government shutdown as political tensions resulted in a Congressional stalemate just ahead of tonight's deadline to avert closure of non-essential government offices. The House did pass legislation over the weekend that would keep the government open through mid-December, but it includes provisions that delay implementation of the Affordable Care Act for one year. Democrats have already indicated they will…

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Mr. Dimon Goes to Washington; the Fed's Stein Speaks Out

09/27/13

Receiving Wide Coverage… Hard Ball: Don't be fooled into thinking that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will end up strong-arming JPMorgan Chase's CEO Jamie Dimon. While Dimon has largely agreed to provide $4 billion in "soft dollar" relief for borrowers, the DOJ wants more than the proposed $7 billion in penalties. But wait. Dimon also wants California prosecutors to drop a criminal investigation into the bank's mortgage practices, a request that Justice has not yet agreed…

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Put Another $11 Billion on JPMorgan Chase's Tab; Hassle-Free Bitcoin Trading?

09/26/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ... $11 Billion: That's how much JPMorgan Chase may have to pay to settle the feds' mortgage-backed securities probe, anonymice tell the papers. Attorney General Eric Holder rejected the bank's offer to pay $3 billion, according to some accounts. JPMorgan "is resisting any sweeping admission of guilt, which could jeopardize its defense against private litigation on similar issues," says the FT. Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Washington Post …

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JPM Trying to Settle; Alibaba Fee Bonanza; LIBOR Drama

09/25/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

JPMorgan's Settlement Tab Keeps Rising: As more leaks drip out from the JPMorgan Chase settlement talks rumor mill, JPM's price tag keeps rising. JPM had been thought to be readying to pay $1 billion, but the Wall Street Journal reports JPM has offered "about $3 billion" though DOJ officials deem that figure as "billions of dollars too low" and that the final amount "could be larger." The New York Times says JPM...

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Many Battles Ahead for JPM; TD Pays; Citi Cuts

09/24/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

Bigger Battles Ahead: The Times and the FT warn that JPMorgan Chase, which agreed last week to pay $1 billion to settle a range of government inquiries and investigations, may still have bigger battles ahead of it, including a potential lawsuit in California, where federal prosecutors are looking into details of mortgage securities sales conducted in the run-up to the financial crisis. The case is expected to come as soon as today,...

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Fed Watchers Focus on Janet Yellen

09/23/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

All Over But for the Yellen: A new conventional wisdom has congealed in the week since Larry Summers withdrew his name from consideration: that Janet Yellen will be nominated to take the helm of the Fed. Yellen's seeming momentum was reinforced by a Wall Street Journal report that the White House is urging Democratic senators to defend her against potential attacks. Further feeding the Yellen surge: dueling profiles in the Journal and...

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Aftermath of JPM's 'Whale' Deal; Buffet Endorses Bernanke for Fed Chair

09/20/13

Receiving Wide Coverage ...

All About JPM: Everyone's still talking about JPMorgan Chase's $920 million settlement with U.S. and U.K. regulators over last year's $6 billion "London Whale" trading loss. The main takeaways from JPM's Terrible Thursday? For starters, the bank's "Whale" problems may not be over. The Journal reports that the SEC is continuing a civil investigation of individual employees who are connected to the matter. Bank CEO Jamie "Tempest in a Teapot" Dimon is...

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