U.S. charges two men with fraud in 'London Whale' scandal

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. charges two men with fraud in 'London Whale' scandal

By Emily Flitter
NEW YORK | Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:46am EDT

(Reuters) - Federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Wednesday criminally charged two former JPMorgan Chase & Co employees with wire fraud and a conspiracy to falsify books and records related to the bank's $6.2 billion trading losses last year, according to court papers.

The charges, the first to arise from the "London Whale" trading scandal, say the two employees, Julien Grout and Javier Martin-Artajo, had deliberately tried to hide hundreds of millions of dollars in losses on trades in a portfolio of synthetic credit derivatives.

The charges are the result of an investigation into events surrounding the losses in the London division of JPMorgan's chief investment office. The losses first became public in April 2012 when it was revealed a small group of traders made outsized bets in an illiquid derivatives market and found themselves squeezed by competitors in the market.

Bruno Iksil, the trader most closely associated with the bets, earned the nickname "the London Whale" for the size of his derivatives trades.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/14/us-jpm-whale-charges-idUSBRE97D0QU20130814

[Eugene]

1. 'London Whale' Bruno Iksil to avoid charges over JPMorgan $6.2bn loss

Source: RT

'London Whale' Bruno Iksil to avoid charges over JPMorgan 6.2bn loss

Published time: August 14, 2013 13:59

Ex-JP Morgan Chase trader Bruno Iksil also known as a “London Whale” has reportedly cut a deal with the US prosecution team, and will avoid charges for covering up huge losses he created by risky derivatives trading, a source close to the matter says.

Iksel, nicknamed “London Whale” for the size of his trading book, is now working with the US federal government to build a case against his former supervisor Martin-Artago, as well as Julien Grout, another trader on the JP Morgan team who tried to conceal $6.2 billion in losses from federal regulators.

Prosecutors may announce charges for Grout and Martin-Artajo on Wednesday for their roles in masking the real losses of the bank’s risky derivatives trading, Bloomberg reports.

Unless new evidence is unearthed and other charges are raised against him, Iksel will likely get off scot-free.

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Read more: http://rt.com/business/jpmorgan-london-whale-iksil-432/

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. At least the other 2 guys are facing criminal, not civil charges.

Altho I suspect a huge fine will all they finally face.
Too bad they did not have an oz of marijuana on them..THEN they would most likely go to jail.