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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Merrill Lynch to pay $160 million to settle racial bias lawsuit: NYT

The company logo of the Bank of America and Merrill Lynch is displayed at its office in Hong Kong March 8, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Bobby Yip

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Diamond Foods to pay $96 million to settle shareholder lawsuit

n">(Reuters) - Diamond Foods Inc (DMND.O) will pay about $96 million to settle a lawsuit related to the restatement of its results after an accounting scandal rocked the maker of Emerald Nuts and Kettle Chips last year.

Shares of the company, which also forecast higher-than-expected fourth-quarter sales, rose as much as 20 percent in morning trading on the settlement of the class action lawsuit.

Diamond said it will pay $11 million in cash and issue 4.45 million common shares to a fund to settle the lawsuit against the company and two of its former officers.

According to court documents, the settlement amount, subject to court approval, represents about 25-40 percent of what the lead plaintiffs saw as the maximum damages theoretically recoverable in this case.

Diamond has been trying to get past the scandal that claimed the jobs of its two top executives and caused its planned purchase of Pringles from Proctor & Gamble (PG.N) to fall apart.

The scandal, involving improper accounting of payments to walnut farmers, also led to the restatement that wiped out $56.5 million in profit from fiscal 2010 and 2011.

The company said on Wednesday it denies any wrongdoing related to the claims, which were made on behalf of investors who acquired Diamond stock between October 5, 2010 and February 8, 2012.

Diamond also forecast sales of $196 million to $201 million in the fourth quarter.

Analysts on average were expecting sales of $187.4 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company's shares, which have risen about 40 percent this year, were up 16 percent at $22.27 on Wednesday on the Nasdaq.

The case is Re Diamond Foods Securities Litigation, case number 3:11-cv-05386, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

(Reporting by Chris Peters in Bangalore)

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Diamond Foods to pay $96 million to settle shareholder lawsuit

n">(Reuters) - Diamond Foods Inc (DMND.O) will pay about $96 million to settle a lawsuit related to the restatement of its results after an accounting scandal rocked the maker of Emerald Nuts and Kettle Chips last year.

Shares of the company, which also forecast higher-than-expected fourth-quarter sales, rose as much as 20 percent in morning trading on the settlement of the class action lawsuit.

Diamond said it will pay $11 million in cash and issue 4.45 million common shares to a fund to settle the lawsuit against the company and two of its former officers.

According to court documents, the settlement amount, subject to court approval, represents about 25-40 percent of what the lead plaintiffs saw as the maximum damages theoretically recoverable in this case.

Diamond has been trying to get past the scandal that claimed the jobs of its two top executives and caused its planned purchase of Pringles from Proctor & Gamble (PG.N) to fall apart.

The scandal, involving improper accounting of payments to walnut farmers, also led to the restatement that wiped out $56.5 million in profit from fiscal 2010 and 2011.

The company said on Wednesday it denies any wrongdoing related to the claims, which were made on behalf of investors who acquired Diamond stock between October 5, 2010 and February 8, 2012.

Diamond also forecast sales of $196 million to $201 million in the fourth quarter.

Analysts on average were expecting sales of $187.4 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company's shares, which have risen about 40 percent this year, were up 16 percent at $22.27 on Wednesday on the Nasdaq.

The case is Re Diamond Foods Securities Litigation, case number 3:11-cv-05386, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

(Reporting by Chris Peters in Bangalore)

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This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Diamond Foods to pay $96 million to settle shareholder lawsuit

n">(Reuters) - Diamond Foods Inc (DMND.O) will pay about $96 million to settle a lawsuit related to the restatement of its results after an accounting scandal rocked the maker of Emerald Nuts and Kettle Chips last year.

Shares of the company, which also forecast higher-than-expected fourth-quarter sales, rose as much as 20 percent in morning trading on the settlement of the class action lawsuit.

Diamond said it will pay $11 million in cash and issue 4.45 million common shares to a fund to settle the lawsuit against the company and two of its former officers.

According to court documents, the settlement amount, subject to court approval, represents about 25-40 percent of what the lead plaintiffs saw as the maximum damages theoretically recoverable in this case.

Diamond has been trying to get past the scandal that claimed the jobs of its two top executives and caused its planned purchase of Pringles from Proctor & Gamble (PG.N) to fall apart.

The scandal, involving improper accounting of payments to walnut farmers, also led to the restatement that wiped out $56.5 million in profit from fiscal 2010 and 2011.

The company said on Wednesday it denies any wrongdoing related to the claims, which were made on behalf of investors who acquired Diamond stock between October 5, 2010 and February 8, 2012.

Diamond also forecast sales of $196 million to $201 million in the fourth quarter.

Analysts on average were expecting sales of $187.4 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company's shares, which have risen about 40 percent this year, were up 16 percent at $22.27 on Wednesday on the Nasdaq.

The case is Re Diamond Foods Securities Litigation, case number 3:11-cv-05386, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

(Reporting by Chris Peters in Bangalore)

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UBS paying $885M to settle US claims on bonds

WASHINGTON (AP) — Swiss banking giant UBS is paying $885 million to settle U.S. government claims that UBS violated securities laws in its sales of mortgage-backed bonds to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees the two government-controlled mortgage finance companies, announced the settlement Thursday. The agency had sued UBS and 17 other major banks over their sales to Fannie and Freddie of about $196 billion in mortgage securities that soured when the housing market collapsed in 2007.

UBS will pay about $415 million to Fannie and $470 million to Freddie.

The FHFA said the deal means it has now reached settlements with three of the 18 banks it sued. The agency previously settled with Citigroup and GE Capital. The others include Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.

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