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Daily Archives: March 14, 2013

JPMorgan Chase Whale Trades: A Case History of Derivatives Risks and Abuses

JPMorgan Chase Whale Trades: A Case History of Derivatives Risks and Abuses. Majority and Minority Staff Report, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, March 15, 2013.

  • “JPMorgan Chase & Company is the largest financial holding company in the United States, with $2.4 trillion in assets. It is also the largest derivatives dealer in the world and the largest single participant in world credit derivatives markets. Its principal bank subsidiary, JPMorgan Chase Bank, is the largest U.S. bank. JPMorgan Chase has consistently portrayed itself as an expert in risk management with a “fortress balance sheet” that ensures taxpayers have nothing to fear from its banking activities, including its extensive dealing in derivatives. But in early 2012, the bank’s Chief Investment Office (CIO), which is charged with managing $350 billion in excess deposits, placed a massive bet on a complex set of synthetic credit derivatives that, in 2012, lost at least $6.2 billion.”
  • Related postings on the financial system
  • Federal Reserve announces results of Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review

    News release: “The Federal Reserve on Thursday announced it has approved the capital plans of 14 financial institutions in the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR). Two other institutions received conditional approval, while the Federal Reserve objected to the plans of two firms. Strong capital levels help ensure that banking organizations have the ability to… Continue Reading

    Census – Workers with a Disability Less Likely to be Employed

    “Individuals with disabilities were less likely to be employed than individuals without disabilities, and those who were employed typically held jobs with lower earnings and also earned less than their colleagues with no disability, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Based on the new Disability Employment Tabulation, the statistics show that between… Continue Reading

    TRAC: Media Making Fewer Challenges to Government Secrecy in Federal Court

    “Federal court records show that Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits challenging government secrecy by news groups have declined, according to an analysis by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). This slump in the number of media suits does not seem to indicate that there is less government secrecy. In fact, the overall number of… Continue Reading

    Mobile device use while driving more common in the US than in several European countries

    Mobile Device Use While Driving — United States and Seven European Countries, 2011. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), March 15, 2013 / 62(10);177-182. “Most U.S. drivers reported talking on their cell phone and about one in three read or sent text or email messages when driving, according to a new study released by the… Continue Reading

    Fewer Children are in Private Schools, More in Charters: Working Paper Explores Possible Links

    Census:”Data from several surveys, including the Current Population Survey and American Community Survey, show a decline in private school enrollment over the last decade. The working paper compares trends across datasets and subgroups and explores possible underlying causes of the decline in enrollment, which occurred particularly at larger, religiously affiliated schools in cities and suburbs.… Continue Reading

    CFPB – Defining Larger Participants of the Student Loan Servicing Market

    “The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau or CFPB) proposes to amend the regulation defining larger participants of certain consumer financial product and service markets by adding a new section to define larger participants of a market for student loan servicing. The Bureau proposes this rule pursuant to its authority, under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street… Continue Reading

    Effects of Human and Wildlife Exposure to Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals Examined in Landmark UN Report

    News release: “Many synthetic chemicals, untested for their disrupting effects on the hormone system, could have significant health implications according to the State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The joint study calls for more research to understand… Continue Reading

    G20 Quarterly Gross Domestic Product, fourth quarter 2012, OECD

    “Quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the G20 area grew by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with 0.6% in the third quarter, according to preliminary estimates. The aggregate G20 GDP growth rate however continues to mask diverging patterns across the world’s largest economies. Among the Major Seven countries, all European countries (Italy,… Continue Reading

    Evaluation of Biomonitoring Data from the CDC National Exposure Report in a Risk Assessment Context

    Evaluation of Biomonitoring Data from the CDC National Exposure Report in a Risk Assessment Context: Perspectives across Chemicals – March 1, 2013 “Biomonitoring data reported in the National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals [NER; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012)] provide information on the presence and concentrations of > 400 chemicals in… Continue Reading