JPMorgan may settle U.S., UK 'Whale' probes for $600 million - source

A sign stands in front of the JPMorgan Chase & Co bank headquarters building in New York, March 15, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson

By Emily Flitter

NEW YORK | Wed Aug 28, 2013 5:55pm BST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co is in talks with a group of regulators, including U.S. prosecutors, to settle probes of the bank's "London Whale" trading losses last year for about $600 million (386 million pounds), according to a person familiar with the talks.

Regulators, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the UK Financial Conduct Authority, are in intense negotiations with lawyers for JPMorgan to reach a global settlement, the source said.

Prosecutors from U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's office were also involved in the talks, the source said. Their role in the talks was unclear.

Julie Bolcer, a spokeswoman for Bharara, declined to comment. The SEC and JPMorgan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The global settlement talks are expected to address events surrounding the losses JPMorgan incurred when London-based traders in the bank's chief investment office amassed an oversized stake in an illiquid derivatives market, building positions so big they earned one trader, Bruno Iksil, the nickname "the London Whale."

JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon initially dismissed the London Whale losses as a "tempest in a teapot," but the remark came back to haunt him. The bank had to quickly unwind the trades, incurring a loss of more than $6 billion, and had to restate a quarterly earnings report.

An internal investigation concluded the traders in London had mismarked some of the prices of the positions they held to try to hide losses.

U.S. prosecutors charged Spaniard Javier Martin-Artajo and a junior colleague, Frenchman Julien Grout, with wire fraud and conspiracy to falsify books and records related to the trading losses, which were executed by Iksil.

(Reporting By Emily Flitter)

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Siemens probes China operations: magazine

The logo of Siemens AG company is pictured atop a factory in Berlin October 9, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch

BERLIN | Sat Jul 27, 2013 5:12am EDT

BERLIN (Reuters) - German engineering group Siemens (SIEGn.DE) is probing its China operations as sales and orders in the world's second-largest economy have failed to grow, Wirtschaftswoche reported without citing the source of the information.

The Munich-based company's strategy division is carrying out an examination of activities in China, results of which Siemens executive board will discuss in October before implementing possible changes in policy, the magazine said on Saturday,

Activity in China's vast manufacturing sector has been slowing as new orders faltered and the job market weakened.

Siemens, which generated about 8 percent of group sales in China last year, has warned it did not see industrial demand in China recovering before its fiscal fourth quarter this year.

A spokesman for Siemens declined to comment on the article.

Pressure is mounting on Siemens Chief Executive Peter Loescher following a profit warning this week. Members of the company's supervisory board will meet this weekend to discuss the future of the engineering group's management.

Siemens said on July 25 it no longer expected to reach a target of raising its core operating profit margin to at least 12 percent from 9.5 percent by 2014.

(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Additional reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by David Holmes)

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Siemens probes China operations: magazine

The logo of Siemens AG company is pictured atop a factory in Berlin October 9, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch

BERLIN | Sat Jul 27, 2013 5:12am EDT

BERLIN (Reuters) - German engineering group Siemens (SIEGn.DE) is probing its China operations as sales and orders in the world's second-largest economy have failed to grow, Wirtschaftswoche reported without citing the source of the information.

The Munich-based company's strategy division is carrying out an examination of activities in China, results of which Siemens executive board will discuss in October before implementing possible changes in policy, the magazine said on Saturday,

Activity in China's vast manufacturing sector has been slowing as new orders faltered and the job market weakened.

Siemens, which generated about 8 percent of group sales in China last year, has warned it did not see industrial demand in China recovering before its fiscal fourth quarter this year.

A spokesman for Siemens declined to comment on the article.

Pressure is mounting on Siemens Chief Executive Peter Loescher following a profit warning this week. Members of the company's supervisory board will meet this weekend to discuss the future of the engineering group's management.

Siemens said on July 25 it no longer expected to reach a target of raising its core operating profit margin to at least 12 percent from 9.5 percent by 2014.

(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Additional reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by David Holmes)

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