JPMorgan reaches tentative deal with US govt, to pay $13 billion in record settlement

According to a source, Of the $13 billion, $9 billion is fines or penalties and $4 billion will go to consumer relief for struggling homeowners. 

WASHINGTON: JPMorgan Chase & Co has tentatively agreed to pay $13 billion to settle allegations surrounding the quality of mortgage-backed securities it sold in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, a person familiar with the negotiations between the bank and the federal government said Saturday. 

If the agreement is finalized it would be the government's highest-profile enforcement action related to the financial meltdown that plunged the economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. 

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been finalized, said attorney general Eric Holder, associate attorney general Tony West, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and the bank's general counsel, Stephen Cutler, negotiated the tentative settlement in a Friday night phone call.