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Internal politics plays role in JPMorgan trading debacle

The New York Times offers an interesting take on the disastrous trades that has cost the banks more than $3 billion in paper.

It reports that Ina Drew, the CIO who resigned to accept accountability for the botched trades, contracted Lyme Disease in 2010, which resulted in frequent absences at a crucial time. She had always had a firm grip on the trading risk that her unit took on, but while she was out, an internecine war broke out between her top deputy in London, the now infamous Achilles Macris, and her deputies in New York.

Wells Fargo continues transition to checking account fees

http://www.fiercefinance.com –

Wells Fargo is taking a stay-under-the-radar approach to raising fees on checking accounts, which has largely kept criticism at bay, relatively speaking. It certainly has not encountered a Bank of America debit card fee-like response as it expands the number of states in which it will charge a checking account fee. The bank started charging the fee nationwide on new accounts last year. In addition, the fee has taken effect in Western states. The bank announced it will soon charge the fee in six more states: Georgia, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania.

Rajat Gupta trial begins

http://www.fiercefinance.com –

At long last, after a lot of pre-trial drama and posturing, the big event has arrived.

The trial of former Goldman Sachs directors and ex-McKinsey head, Rajat Gupta, will get underway in a courtroom in Manhattan. Jury selection will be the first priority, under the watchful eye of Judge Jed Rakoff, who has been no stranger to controversy in the litigious aftermath of the financial crisis.