JPMorgan Chase Pushed for Trading Loophole

Jamie Dimon and other top executives at JPMorgan Chase personally pushed for loopholes in the nation's new regulatory laws allowing for the type of risky trading that resulted in the bank's new $2 billion loss, reports the New York Times. In fact, one meeting in February between bank execs and Federal Reserve officials included Ina Drew, chief of the bank's investment unit in which the loss occurred.

The lobbying for a particular type of portfolio hedging produced “a big enough loophole that a Mack truck could drive right through it,” says Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, one of the authors of the Volcker Rule, itself part of the larger Dodd-Frank reform law. JPMorgan's mess, however, may strengthen Democratic efforts to shore up regulation, notes the Hill. “How many times do we have to be hit in the head with a financial sledgehammer to wake up and realize we’ve got to take action?” says Rep. Peter Welch. “The big banks have been fighting Dodd-Frank tooth and nail, (and) regrettably, the banks have largely been successful.” (More JPMorgan Chase stories.)