JP Morgan Chase has agreed to pay a $13 billion fine to settle federal and state lawsuits over the bank’s residential mortgage-backed securities business, according to news reports.
General terms of the tentative agreement between the bank and the Justice Department were reached Friday night in a phone conversation involving Attorney General Eric Holder, his deputy Tony West, J.P. Morgan CEO James Dimon and the bank’s general counsel, Stephen Cutler, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing an unidentified person familiar with the deal.
The agreement does not require the Justice Department to drop a criminal investigation focusing on the same issues, Reuters reported, also citing an unidentified person with knowledge of the deal.
Under the tentative agreement, the bank is likely to be required to cooperate in criminal investigations of individuals tied to wrongdoing associated with the bank’s mortgage practices, a person who requested anonymity said, according to Bloomberg News.