US bank JP Morgan Chase is to pay a $13 billion (9.7 billion euro) settlement to United States authorities for misleading investors during the housing crisis of 2008-2009.<br /><br />The bank admitted “serious misrepresentations to the public.”<br /><br />Around four billion will be allocated to homeowners who have suffered as a result of the bank’s practices.<br /><br />Professor John Coffee from the Columbia University Law School said: “It’s more than triple the four billion imposed on British Petroleum, which was the runner up. It definitely shows a tougher more retributive attitude on the part of the U.S. government. <br /><br />“At the same time however, this is a record penalty without anyone identifying who the culpable executives were who made these bad and criminal decisions,” Coffee continued.<br /><br />The settlement ends the civil investigation into JP Morgan, but the US government’s criminal probe is ongoing.<br /><br />The bank said it had set aside $23 billion to deal with the various investigations into its activities by regulators at home and abroad.
