How Little $13 Billion Buys Us

摘要

I find myself in the odd position of feeling sorry for a too-big-to-fail bank. JPMorgan Chase is reportedly ready to pay $13 billion to the U.S. government-potentially among the largest such settlements ever. The tentative deal, which is separate from other settlements that may be made with institutional investors, centers on alleged misdeeds in the selling of mortgage-backed securities, those spliced-and-diced housing-based assets that caused the 2008 financial crisis. It's supposed to allow JPMorgan to move beyond the sins of the crisis while also showing how tough the Department of Justice has gotten on banks, giving Main Street the warm feeling that Wall Street has finally paid for all the pain it caused.