NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase’s wrong-way bets on derivatives are the focus of an escalating probe by a U.S. Senate panel led by Carl Levin that has grilled executives from banks, including Goldman Sachs and HSBC, three people briefed on the inquiry said.
Levin’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is seeking testimony from people who worked in or helped lead JPMorgan’s chief investment office, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the inquiry isn’t public. The unit’s London staff lost at least $5.8 billion this year on the botched bets, which were large enough to shift markets.
Tara Andringa, a spokeswoman for Levin, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, and Joe Evangelisti at JPMorgan declined to discuss the inquiry.
The bank, led by chief executive Jamie Dimon, 56, faces a panel of lawmakers that in recent years brought executives from Goldman Sachs and London-based HSBC to Capitol Hill, barraging them with questions that challenged their version of events. JPMorgan said in July that its internal review found traders may have tried to obscure the full amount of losses they faced on their transactions.
