US power market regulator threatens to suspend JPMorgan

[Newsjock]

Source: Reuters

U.S. federal energy regulators threatened on Thursday to suspend JPMorgan Chase & Co's right to sell electricity at market rates after accusing the bank of misleading authorities -- a measure that would effectively banish it from the power market.

The move by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the latest salvo in a months-long enquiry into whether the bank, one of the biggest power traders on Wall Street, manipulated power prices in the Midwest and California power markets.

... The commission said the bank violated regulations under the Federal Power Act by submitting misleading information and omitting facts in dealings with the regulator and California's electricity grid operator on four separate occasions over the past 11 months.

In response, JPMorgan said it had made an "inadvertent factual error in papers related to discovery and promptly informed the commission of this mistake."

Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/09/21/ferc-jpmorgan-idINL1E8KKJFG20120921

[elleng]

1. GREAT!

My friend JUST retired from FERC.

[meow2u3]

2. EXCELLENT!

[cstanleytech]

3. Anyone else smell the complete and utter BS behind the claim from JPMorgan?

So, lets discuss what penalty should be done.
Seeing as corporations fought and won the right to be recognized as citizens with the same rights as the rest of us who here opposes a death penalty for the company where all the assets are liquidated and those at the corporate level are level with 0, zip, zilch, nada, squat?
You know, kinda like how corporations screw the very little guy by taking the retirement funds from the average worker except this time the shoe would be on the other foot.

[Ash_F]

5. Why destroy the company?

If you destroy a CEO's company, he will still have his ill-gotten millions. That won't sting one bit.

I rather see the top brass marched off to prison and their subordinates replacing them. Maybe the next person would follow the law. If corporations are people, because they consist of people, then the people responsible should be punished for the corporation's crime. With prison, not fines.

[cstanleytech]

6. Sometimes the disease cannot be cured and the patient dies.

Perhaps its time we stop pretending to find a cure for the corporations and grant them a painless death and one where the ceos and fat cats dont get off easy either and by that I mean where they have to pay out of their own pockets for the fines and or loses.

[Angry Dragon]

8. +4,464

[OnyxCollie]

4. Uh oh! I feel a sternly worded letter coming on. nt

[silvershadow]

10. Or a fine about one one-hundreth of the damage inflicted. In other words, they still make a killing

and no one will go to jail. We stopped jailing people after Jan 20, 2001. Well, the important people, anyway. If I accidentally bounce a check for $10 to Kroger, I'd likely go to jail. But you know what I mean.

[Angry Dragon]

7. What the hell is a bank doing being a power trader??

[wordpix]

13. follow the money is their motto, and energy is money

[lonestarnot]

9. Inadvertent factual error my ass!

[aquart]

11. DO IT!

[wordpix]

12. "inadvertent error" 4x over 11 months? Wow, how incompetent (sarcasm)

If this isn't a case of blatant misinformation and omission of facts, I don't know what is. JPM should be fined big time and let the execs go without their millions in bonuses and golden parachutes as they leave the co.

snip
The commission said the bank violated regulations under the Federal Power Act by submitting misleading information and omitting facts in dealings with the regulator and California's electricity grid operator on four separate occasions over the past 11 months.