George Demos is a Republican Congressional candidate from Eastern Long Island whose Web site bears the slogan "Fighting for Freedom," and touts his service as an enforcement lawyer in the New York office of the Securities and Exchange Commission. A bio says that he "handled some of the SEC's most significant investigations," including that of Ponzi scheme artist Bernard Madoff, and "worked tirelessly on the cases that never made the headlines."
But one case that never made headlines was his own: Demos' campaign Web site and public statements omit any reference to a report last March of the SEC's Inspector General (IG), which found he had improperly disclosed protected, nonpublic information about a whistleblower to the counsel for that whistleblower's employer, a major Wall Street bank, JPMorgan Chase. The IG's charges of misconduct grew out of an SEC probe that began in 2003 of JPMorgan and other big financial institutions suspected of illegal market practices.
The New York Post reported this morning that lawmakers are discussing JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as a potential replacement for current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
Leaving aside concerns that appointing a Wall Street CEO to the Treasury's top position would draw heavy criticism over Wall Street's coziness with Washington, it's not clear that Dimon would be a natural fit in the Obama administration. According to the Wall Street Journal, Dimon departs from White House policy on a handful of key issues.
For one, President Obama has pushed establishment of a consumer-protection agency that would keep watch over credit card and mortgage companies, but Dimon opposes the agency on grounds that it will drive up costs. JPMorgan says recent legislation regulating credit cards could cost the bank up to $750 million a year, a burden that may be passed along to consumers.
And while the White House's position on how to handle too-big-to-fail banks is still evolving, Dimon has staunchly defended big banks' right to exist -- and to fail. In a Washington Post op-ed this month, Dimon wrote:
"...ending the era of "too big to fail" does not mean that we must somehow cap the size of financial-services firms. Scale can create value for shareholders; for consumers, who are beneficiaries of better products, delivered more quickly and at less cost; for the businesses that are our customers; and for the economy as a whole. Artificially limiting the size of an institution, regardless of the business implications, does not make sense. The goal should be a regulatory system that allows financial institutions to meet the needs of individual and institutional customers while ensuring that even the biggest bank can be allowed to fail in a way that does not put taxpayers or the broader economy at risk."
Anonymous sources told the NY Post that Dimon "would love to serve his country," but is demurring. He has no plans, he says, to leave JPMorgan for the next "six or seven years."
For now, Geithner is still contending with critics in Congress. He was attacked last week during an appearance before Congress's Joint Economic Committee. "Mr. Secretary, the public has lost all confidence in your ability to do your job," Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) told him.The New York Post reported this morning that lawmakers are discussing JPMorgan Chase... more
The nation's second-largest bank said a new law that limits unfair rate hikes and hidden fees will cost it as much as $750 million a year.
JPMorgan Chase revealed the estimate Monday in a regulatory filing:
In addition, as a result of the recently-enacted credit card legislation, management estimates, which are preliminary and subject to change, are that Card Services' annual net income may be adversely affected by approximately $500 million to $750 million. As a result of all these factors, management currently expects Card Services to have a net loss for the full year 2010.
The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009 bans or limits deceptive and unfair practices, including retroactive rate increases, late fee traps like weekend deadlines and "universal default," or raising rates because of a borrower's delinquency with another lender.
The law gives the industry until February 2010 to comply with most of the rules, but since many banks started to jack up interest rates in advance of enactment, Congress is now considering moving up the date to December. The Federal Reserve cautioned Congress against it.The nation's second-largest bank said a new law that limits unfair rate hikes and... more
The Greatest Heist in History begins the next chapter. Let's see how we got screwed ... again.The Greatest Heist in History begins the next chapter. Let's see how we got... more
JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second- largest U.S. bank by deposits, hired a newly built supertanker to store heating oil off Malta, shipbrokers reported, in the company’s first such booking in at least five years.
The bank hired the Front Queen for nine months, according to daily reports from Oslo-based SeaLeague A/S and Athens-based Optima Shipbrokers Ltd. David Wells, a spokesman for JPMorgan in London, declined to comment.
JPMorgan, which has never hired an oil tanker based on data compiled by Bloomberg going back five years, follows companies including Citigroup Inc.’s Phibro LLC unit and BP Plc in hiring ships to store crude or oil products at sea. The firms are seeking to take advantage of higher prices later in the year.
“It’s opportunity-driven,” Sverre Bjorn Svenning, an analyst at Fearnley Consultants AS in Oslo, said by phone. “I doubt it’s going to be a permanent or new sort of trade.”
Heating oil for immediate delivery costs $553 a metric ton in northwest Europe and supplies for August are at $580, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second- largest U.S. bank by deposits, hired a newly... more
JPMorgan Chase says it earned $2.1 billion, thanks to rising deposits and lower borrowing rates. The profit was 13 percent lower than last year, but better than expected.JPMorgan Chase says it earned $2.1 billion, thanks to rising deposits and lower... more
