JPMorgan’s Admission: A symbolic victory for the SEC, of limited use in private lawsuits

When JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $920 million in fines Thursday, the financial goliath also handed federal regulators a significant symbolic victory by admitting that its handling of the disastrous “London Whale” trading losses violated securities law. The admission came as part of the bank’s settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which recently vowed to break from its routine practice of allowing defendants to pay fines without acknowledging liability. In the past few months, the agency has wrung admissions from a hedge-fund billionaire and now JPMorgan. More in the Washington Post here.