JPMorgan agrees to $920 million fine for ‘London Whale’ trades

JPMorgan Chase will admit wrongdoing and pay roughly $920 million to settle securities law violations stemming from its multibillion-dollar “London Whale” trading losses.

The global settlement announced Thursday resolves charges from four different regulators in the United States and the United Kingdom who said the bank exercised “inadequate oversight” over its investment office while failing to keep regulators informed.

{mosads}JPMorgan’s massive trading losses, which roiled markets and led to a slew of congressional hearings and investigations, also resulted in the indictment of two former traders out of the bank’s London office, where the losses mounted.

All told, JPMorgan lost more than $6 billion on the complex bets on derivatives, and in the process, bolstered the case for those arguing for regulators to take a stricter stance for Wall Street when implementing the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.

The nation’s largest bank also admitted it violated federal securities laws in its efforts to mask the huge losses mounting out of its Chief Investment Office — part of a new policy from the Securities and Exchange Commission requiring financial institutions to admit guilt as part of settlements.

In a statement, the bank claimed it cooperated “extensively” with regulators investigating the losses and would continue to cooperate with remaining inquiries, including those surrounding prosecutions of two former bank employees closely tied to the losses.

“We have accepted responsibility and acknowledged our mistakes from the start,” said Jamie Dimon, the bank’s chairman and CEO. “We have learned from them and worked to fix them.”