摩根大通130亿美元天价罚款是变相贿赂

    而且，目前看来没有、或者说几乎没有牵扯到戴蒙本人。事实上，虽然此项和解的细节尚未公布，但看起来摩根大通现有管理层全都能免于个人问责。报道称，这家银行同意在针对前雇员(而非现任高管)的案件中与监管机构合作，而且估计政府真正打算追究责任的那些雇员中有一些是来自贝尔斯登或华盛顿互惠银行的人。看起来这些案件没一件是130亿美元和解的一部分。那么，我们将再一次面临这样的情况，银行付一大笔罚款就其违法指控达成和解，没有任何个人为其过错遭受指控。所有这些违法行为都是自己犯下的。

    而且，戴蒙清楚，他的名头对于监管机构是价值不菲的战利品。但一笔相当、相当高的罚款也是不错的选择。于是，戴蒙就掏钱给他们了。是的，监管机构或许本应要更高的价钱。但这并不意味着他们要价的三分之二不是保证戴蒙和他的高管团队免受惩罚的贿赂。

    戴蒙在最近的一次分析师业绩电话会议上表示，他不傻。收购贝尔斯登和华盛顿互惠银行之前，他就要求监管机构给予摩根大通豁免权，保证它不必为这两家公司可能犯下的过错承担责任。戴蒙是在为拯救美国金融体系而努力。

    美国司法部对戴蒙的回答基本上是“不”。因此，大家会认为，戴蒙和他的团队在收购这两家银行时就已经考虑了未来的法律成本。而后来的事实证明，这两笔收购都赚了。这些收购交易也巩固了摩根大通作为美国第一大银行的地位，帮助它从高盛（Goldman）、摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）和其他银行手中夺取了更多业务。可能从一开始，收购价格中就包含了一大笔罚款，而这也是戴蒙现在愿意付钱的原因所在。

    但解释摩根大通为何支付130亿美元罚款的最好理由或许还是戴蒙自己的话：他不傻。他比你我都有钱不是没有原因的。没错，他掏出了130亿美元，但他因此获得的回报远远超出我们的想象。（财富中文网）  

    And yet there appears to be little or no heat on Dimon. In fact, while the details of the settlement aren't out yet, it appears that all of JPMorgan's current management will be safe from personal punishment. The bank has reportedly agreed to cooperate with regulators in cases against ex-employees but not against current executives, and presumably some of those employees the government wants to go after are from Bear Stearns or Washington Mutual. None of those cases appear to be part of this $13 billion settlement. So, once again, we have a bank paying an enormous fine to settle claims that it broke the law with no individuals being charged for doing anything wrong. The crimes committed themselves.

    And Dimon knows that his scalp would be a valuable haul for the regulators. But a really, really large fine is nice too. So that's what Dimon gave them. Yes, regulators might have been asking for even more. But that doesn't mean that two-thirds of what they were looking for isn't a payoff for keeping Dimon and his top executives safe from punishment.

    On a recent earnings call with analysts, Dimon said he wasn't stupid. Before buying Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, he asked regulators to give JPMorgan immunity against any wrong deeds Bear and WaMu might have committed before JPMorgan acquired them. Dimon was doing his part to help save the financial system.

    The Justice Department basically told Dimon, no. So, you would think that Dimon and his team took into consideration the future legal costs when they bought those two banks, which have turned out to be profitable acquisitions. They have also solidified JPMorgan's position as the nation's largest bank, which has helped it take more business from Goldman, Morgan Stanley (MS), and others. A big fine could have been baked into the price from the beginning, which is why Dimon is willing to pay it.

    But perhaps the best reason for explaining why JPMorgan is paying $13 billion is Dimon's own: He's not stupid. There's a reason he's richer than you and me. He's getting more than you think for his $13 billion.