JPMorgan may go for $ 2b settlement

The US bank was used by Bernard Madoff who masterminded Ponzi fraud that ruined many investors

JPMorgan Chase, the US bank used by Bernard Madoff who masterminded the biggest fraud on record, has agreed to pay about $ 2 billion ( Dh7.35 billion) to US authorities to avoid litigation, press reports said yesterday.

Madoff masterminded a massive and long- running so- called Ponzi investment fraud, which came to light in 2008 as the financial crisis gathered speed. At the time of its collapse in 2008, Madoff Securities claimed it had about $ 65 billion in client assets, whereas in fact it had only about $ 300 million. The fraud ruined many investors and stoked public anger over the causes and consequences of the crisis. Reports in the Wall Street

Journal and the New York Times, citing people close to the matter, said JPMorgan Chase would announce the settlement this week. JPMorgan Chase, the biggest US bank by assets, was the main bank used by Madoff for more than 20 years.

The sources quoted by the two papers said the bank had agreed to pay up to close criminal and civil investigations by federal authorities which suspected that the bank had ignored signs that Madoff was operating a fraudulent scheme.

The New York Times said that the expected announcement would take to $ 20 billion the total amount paid by the bank in the last 12 months to settle various government investigations.

Highly unusual move

The New York Times also reported that in a highly unusual move demonstrating the extreme gravity of the case, the settlement would include a deferred prosecution agreement suspending criminal action provided that the bank acknowledged the facts against it and changed its behaviour. In 2009, Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison.