Oh, behave

JPMorgan's Whale mini-mea culpa is no Dr Evil

JPMorgan Chase's mini-mea culpa in the London Whale trading case is no Dr. Evil. The bank owned up to recklessness in its $100 million settlement with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. But Chief Executive Jamie Dimon's firm confined its admissions to the day it dumped $7.2 billion of credit default swaps - and didn't acknowledge breaking any laws.

Last month the bank shelled out $920 million to four other US and British regulators over the trades that cost it some $6.2 billion. Along with its $200 million share, the Securities and Exchange Commission extracted JPMorgan's admission that it illegally failed to keep accurate books and records. The CFTC, however, held out for more: trading activity details that in the eyes of the agency, if not the bank, amounted to illegal market manipulation.

While the CFTC gets to tout a modest victory, JPMorgan can probably hold the line on lawsuits. It admits to embarrassing facts and aggressive trades that roiled the swaps markets - but little else. What's more, the new Dodd-Frank rule that the CFTC claims the bank violated doesn't give players in the swaps market the right to sue. Even if they could gin up a case, their damages would be limited to trades on one day. And, nothing in the settlement limits the bank's legal arguments in other proceedings. In those respects, it's similar to the SEC accord. Private parties don't have a right to sue for books-and-records violations, and the bank didn't admit to any fraud.

Both settlements, however, reflect progress in holding financial institutions accountable. Before US Judge Jed Rakoff took the SEC to task in 2011 for a CDO settlement with Citigroup, banks and other institutions were routinely allowed to avoid admitting wrongdoing. New SEC Chairman Mary Jo White promised to toughen up the agency's approach. And its officials have already had some success, such as forcing the likes of hedge fund Harbinger Capital and its boss, Phil Falcone, to admit misconduct. Even if the acknowledged misbehaviour is small potatoes legally, the facts behind it are finally coming out.

Financial watchdogs are, at least, dishing out bigger penalties. But when it comes to extracting confessions, they have yet to back up their bark with serious bite.