WASHINGTON (AP) — JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon met Thursday with Attorney General Eric Holder about an investigation into the company's handling of mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the recession.
Holder declined to characterize the discussions, but a government official familiar with ongoing negotiations said an $11 billion national settlement is under review to resolve claims against JPMorgan.
"I did meet with representatives of JPMorgan," the attorney general said during a news conference being held on another topic.
"We have matters that are under investigation. I expect to be making further announcements in the coming weeks, the coming months," Holder said. His comment was a general reference to probes the Justice Department has been carrying out for several years involving some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including JPMorgan.
Before and after the meeting with Holder, Dimon declined to answer when asked about the state of the discussions.
The Department of Justice is taking the lead on the proposed $11 billion deal, which would include $7 billion in cash and $4 billion in consumer relief, said the government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because a settlement hasn't been reached and the official wasn't authorized to discuss it publicly.
The mortgage-backed securities lost value after a bubble in the housing market burst and helped spur the financial crisis.
In January 2012, a task force of federal and state law enforcement officials was established to pursue wrongdoing with regard to mortgage securities.
