Banks Pile Up Fines Under Trump, Casting Light on Misconduct

  • A $4 billion wave of settlements removes risk before election
  • But it also spotlights serious misconduct since 2008 crisis
Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
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Giant banks have racked up more than $4 billion in U.S. penalties in a wave of settlements weeks before the presidential election. That says a lot about an industry that once vowed to behave after the 2008 financial crisis -- and about the regulatory risks it sees ahead.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recently incurred a record punishment for foreign bribery under a roughly $3 billion package of accords for its role in Malaysia’s plundered 1MDB investment fund. JPMorgan Chase & Co. resolved a market-manipulation probe for more than $920 million. Citigroup Inc. was fined $400 million for failing to maintain adequate risk controls.