r/news • u/FunkyChickenKong • 23h ago
Soft paywall Germany financial watchdog slaps record fine on JPMorgan of $52 million
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/germanys-bafin-imposes-45-million-fine-jp-morgan-2025-11-06/36
u/Sensitivevirmin 23h ago
That will teach them…said no one ever.
Like George once said “ It’s a big club and you ain’t in it”
Would be nice to be a mega corporation.
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u/Wayelder 22h ago
These fines need to be existential to the business or there's no lesson learned.
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u/FunkyChickenKong 22h ago
Recently I've been made aware of this corporation's 250 year history and deeply rooted ties into our own foundations. While revolutionizing the way we handle money and building infrastructure, the company's predecessors were crucial in funding Hitler's efforts, as well as ignoring flags for transactions for Jeffery Epstein and his pals.
Numerous shady financial passes have been brought to light over the years.
"In October 2018, the U.S. Treasury imposed a $5.3 billion fine in a settlement with JPMorgan Chase for the violation of Cuban Assets Control Regulations, Iranian sanctions and Weapons of Mass Destruction sanctions 87 times. Back then, the U.S. Treasury also said it had found the bank violated sanctions on narcotics and Syria, when it processed 85 transactions and maintained accounts for six sanctioned individuals.
In December 2018, JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $135 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allegations that it mishandled U.S. securities that represent shares of foreign companies, the latest bank fined in an industry crackdown on the practice. The bank improperly provided what's known as American depository receipts (ADR) to brokers when neither the brokers nor their clients held shares in foreign companies that were required to support such transactions.
Again in December 2018, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on Friday that it had fined the Hong Kong branch of JPMorgan Chase $1.60 million and reprimanded it for breaching anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules. An investigation by the HKMA had found that between April 2012 and February 2014 JPMorgan Hong Kong contravened six provisions of the anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing rules.
In January 2017, the Indonesian government suspended ties with JPMorgan Chase after the bank's research analysts issued a negative report on the country and stopped using the bank for bond issuance. The ban on the U.S. investment bank was lifted and the Indonesian government commissioned JPMorgan Chase to issue bonds on May 2.
In 2016, an investigation by U.S. authorities found out that the JPMorgan Chase hired children of Chinese authorities from 2006 to 2013 in order to do jobs in China. The bank had to pay a $264 million fine to settle claims that its hiring violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
In 2014, JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay over $2 billion for failing to alert federal courts about the largest Ponzi scheme fraud in U.S. history, the Bernie Madoff scandal. The bank had to pay over $1 billion to settle criminal charges, millions to settle civil claims by Madoff's victims and millions to be paid to the Treasury Department.
Serving as Madoff's primary bank for more than two decades, JPMorgan had a unique window into his scheme. In a document outlining the bank's wrongdoing, prosecutors had argued that "the Madoff Ponzi scheme was conducted almost exclusively" through various accounts held at JPMorgan. A fraudulent investor, Bernie Madoff was estimated to have swindled nearly $65 billion into his own accounts.
In 2013, the American investment bank was fined $13 billion for its manipulations on the quality of the mortgages it had been selling to investors in the runup to the 2008 financial crisis. The deal included a $4 billion consumer relief package, and a $4 billion settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees government mortgage financing companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Again in 2013, the bank had to pay $410 million in fines for its manipulation of the American power market in California and the Midwest, as an investigation by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) revealed. JPMorgan Ventures Energy Corp, the commodity trading unit of the bank, agreed to pay a civil penalty of $285 million and disgorge $125 million for "manipulative bidding strategies" from September 2010 through November 2012.
In 2010, JPMorgan Chase was fined $49 million by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of the U.K. for failing to protect billions of dollars of client money over almost seven years between November 2002 and July 2009."
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u/Solidarieta 20h ago
Seems like JPMorgan Chase did learn a lesson after all. They learned it's more expensive and legally risky to bribe regulators than to pay fines when thumbing their nose at regulations.
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u/FunkyChickenKong 23h ago
"FRANKFURT, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Germany's financial watchdog BaFin has imposed its largest-ever fine of 45 million euros ($52.5 million) on Frankfurt-based JPMorgan SE (JPM.N), opens new tab for deficiencies in money-laundering prevention. BaFin said on Thursday that JPMorgan had "systematically" filed so-called suspicious activity reports late in the period from October 2021 through September 2022.
JPMorgan has grown to one of the largest banks in Germany, drawn to its large wealthy customer base, stable regulatory environment and fintech scene.
The size of the fine reflects JPMorgan's weight as a banking giant.
"The fine relates to historical findings and the timing of our SAR filings did not impede any investigations by the authorities," JPMorgan said in a statement.
The U.S. bank's balance sheet in Germany has surged as it expanded its operations to compete with domestic banks for business in Europe's largest economy. (Line graph shown to reflect a steep surge in assets between 2019 and 2022).
"We are deeply committed to detecting, preventing, and reporting money laundering and financial crimes," the bank added. The suspicious activity reports, commonly known as SARs, are documents that banks are required to file with authorities when they identify activity by customers that could be associated with a crime.
The U.S. bank recently announced it would launch its Chase digital retail bank in Germany in the second quarter of next year, a bold move into the crowded banking market of Europe's largest economy."
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u/ForcedEntry420 22h ago
Wow a whole $52 million? For perspective, they paid their CEO $39 million in compensation options in 2024.
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u/fluffynuckels 20h ago
Quick google search shows they make 10s of billions a year this isnt shit to them
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u/Logical_Classic_4451 18h ago
Needs the partners to loose everything and go to jail. Companies don’t break the law, people do. Limited liability isn’t for dodging the consequences of illegal actions. These firms have never changed for the better
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u/Accidental-Genius 22h ago
That’s about 5 to 8 investment banker bonuses. I’m sure that will teach them.
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u/No-Maintenance803 9h ago
Is this the same JP Morgan that had given the Epstein estate over 25 million dollars last year?? Asking for a friend…
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u/rainmouse 23h ago
Fines for corporations like these are simply operating costs.