JP Morgan, SEC in settlement talks on CDO deal

CHICAGO: JP Morgan Chase & Co is in settlement talks with a U.S. regulator to end a probe into how the investment bank marketed a deal involving sub-prime mortgages in 2007, according to the Financial Times.

A settlement between JP Morgan and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could be reached within weeks, the paper said.

The SEC declined to comment on the report, while representatives of JP Morgan could not be reached for comment.

The 2007 deal, called "Squared," was a collateralized debt obligation, or CDO.

CDOs are complex financial instruments that have been blamed for worsening the global financial crisis in 2008.

The SEC investigation cantered around whether JP Morgan adequately disclosed to investors that a hedge fund, Magnetar, helped to select assets for the deal while betting against parts of it.