Chase CEO about mortgage writedowns, "Yeah, that's off the table."
CEO of Chase speaks up
Today, after his appearance at the US Chamber of Commerce forum in Washington, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase Jamie Dimon said told CNNMoney.com that banks will not be considering writing down mortgages for homeowners how cannot make payments.
50 states attorneys general and over a dozen federal regulators have been very near finalization of a settlement with banks who have misbehaved in recent years. The stumbling point for the group was whether or not banks would have to write down mortgage balances to prop up existing homeowners.
What tv news isn’t telling you
What traditional media outlets are failing to report however is that the news this week of the Office of the Comptroller of Currency breaking with the majority of the other regulators to offer the banking sector a separate and smaller settlement has empowered the banks to reduce their willingness to cooperate in recovery efforts outside of what they all feel they are already doing.
Dimon said, “Principal writedown for people who couldn’t pay their mortgages? Yeah, that’s off the table.” This statement is a direct result of the OCC offering a substantially smaller settlement that doesn’t include mortgage writedowns. This isn’t a simple case of a lone bank exec getting cocky, they have government infighting to lean on.
As predicted, that government infighting and a lack of knowing who is in charge is having a major impact within the first few days of the OCC splitting from the group which critics are saying will cause a slower recovery. Supporters point to over-regulation as the original problem leading up to and perpetuating the housing crisis.
