JP Morgan Chase: Too Big To Jail In The New Age Of Sovereign Financial Immunity?

(TruthOut) Mark Karlin writes ~ Another Key Wall Street Master of the Universe to Elude Penalties for Alleged Fraud

[T]his column is about a key Wall Street executive, Blythe Masters, who the New York Times (NYT) reports is likely to escape even US government-assessed civil damages for what is alleged fraudulent trading (to increase profit) of electricity prices in California and Michigan:

Even as the nation’s top energy regulator is poised to extract a record settlement from JPMorgan Chase over accusations that it manipulated power markets, the agency is expected to spare a top bank lieutenant who federal investigators initially contended made “false and misleading statements under oath,” according to people briefed on the matter.

Of course, BuzzFlash at Truthout cannot say whether or not the allegations against Ms. Masters are accurate or provable, but the NYT notes:

The regulator [FERC] found that JPMorgan designed trading “schemes” that converted “money-losing power plants into powerful profit centers,” a commission document said.
While the commission and JPMorgan are negotiating a settlement for about $500 million, the people briefed on the matter said, Ms. Masters is not expected to face a separate action....
Months earlier, investigators planned to recommend that the regulator find Ms. Masters, who holds a powerful position within JPMorgan as the head of its commodities business, “individually liable.” But as the investigation progressed, these people said, top energy regulatory officials have been leaning toward not pursuing any civil charges against Ms. Masters....
Ms. Masters formed close ties with Jamie Dimon, the bank’s chief executive, who has moved to shore up support for her, according to people close to the bank. The two were bound by their belief that the commodities business was critical to JPMorgan’s growth.

Would that be the Jamie Dimon who sloughed off the Libor scandal, is BFF of President Obama, and who receives government coordinated protection from time to time?  Yes it is.
As for Masters, she is not just a member of the Wall Street impunity crowd that controls much of the nation's wealth (unless their gambles fail and they request taxpayer subsidies to bail them out). According to the NYT, Ms. Masters is one of the primary creators of the very exotic financial "instruments" that were a key contributor to the US economic crash of 2008:

Within Wall Street, Ms. Masters is widely considered a pioneer for her use of credit derivatives, the complex financial products that played a central role in the 2008 financial crisis. Rising through the ranks of JPMorgan — she was the youngest managing director at 28 — Ms. Masters became one of the most powerful executives on Wall Street, propelled by a vision that the products could radically remake the banking industry.

.......A July 18th NYT article starkly states:

Under “pressure to generate large profits,” investigators said in the March document, traders in Houston devised a solution. Adopting eight different “schemes” between September 2010 and June 2011, the traders offered the energy at prices “calculated to falsely appear attractive” to state energy authorities....
In the March document, the investigators elaborated on the bank’s pushback. The 70-page document said that the bank “planned and executed a systematic cover-up” of documents that exposed the trading strategy, including profit and loss statements.

Again, we don't know if these charges would be proved true or not in a regulatory agency hearing or court of law, but if they are accurate, wouldn't this constitute fraud?.........Good questions, but when you have Wall Street "sovereign financial immunity," the answers don't really matter, do they?

~*~