September 27, 2013
The Securities and Exchange Commission settlement of a case against JPMorgan without charging any top executives, was heavily criticized by Jesse Eisinger, a finance reporter for ProPublica in a New York Times opinion piece today.
The government is seeking $11 billion from JPMorgan to settle charges stemming from the “London Whale” disaster and several other cases.
Eisinger argues some top executives should have been criminally charged given that, “written and verbal representations made by the bank were incomplete, contained numerous inaccuracies, and misinformed investors, regulators and the public” according to a Senate report.
Eisinger concludes that “clear and complete disclosures are extremely important [and] would allow institutional investors, regulators, counterparties and financial experts to sort out whether the banks are complying with the law or not.”
“Without serious disclosure and serious enforcement” he said, “the risk of another calamity rises.”