JPMorgan is hardly likely to remember 2013 fondly. Having stood out from its rivals for coming through the global financial crisis in better shape than almost all of them, the bank was humbled in 2013. It was hit with a $23bn bill for fines and settlements and, largely as a result, made its firstly quarterly loss since 2004.
Its woes stemmed from a wide variety of allegations. Most related to the sale of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) by it and two collapsing banks it bought amid the turmoil of 2008: Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. In November 2013, it made two major settlements for misleading MBS investors during the run up to the crisis – one for $13bn with the US justice department and other state entities, and another for $4.5bn with a group of institutional investors.
