JP Morgan to launch sale of its commodities assets in early September ( moving rather quickly .. ) Maybe the fact that the DOJ is investigating JP Morgan's Energy market manipulations is adding a sense of " urgency " ? Does the investigations by FERC and DOJ regarding Enron - like energy manipulations mean some day we have someone examine JP Morgans actions regarding gold and silver - or it that too much to ask ?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323608504579022852576701892.html

J.P. Morgan Chase JPM -2.74% & Co. has told potential buyers of its commodities assets that it expects to kick off sale efforts in early September.

The bank plans at that time to circulate a memo that details the balance sheets and profitability of its physical-commodity assets, according to people familiar with the sale process.

J.P. Morgan said in July it was pursuing strategic alternatives for these assets, which range from metal warehouses to pipeline leases and power plants, including a possible sale. The bank hopes to sell the assets as one package, but depending on the interest of buyers it may have to sell them piecemeal.

Tightening regulations in the wake of the financial crisis have made it more difficult for banks to reap big profits from their commodities operations, as have softening commodity markets. Recently, U.S. regulators have increased their scrutiny of metal warehousing amid complaints from industrial consumers that long waits for metals such as aluminum and copper are driving up prices.

Dozens of firms have approached the bank to express tentative interest in J.P. Morgan's assets, these people said. Their ranks include big international commodity traders, private-equity firms and foreign banks.

J.P. Morgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, is among a handful of giant banks that expanded into physical commodities to complement their trading in financial derivatives in those markets.

Among the assets on the auction block are Henry Bath & Son Ltd., a global network of metals warehouses; agreements to control the output from a handful of power plants in the Southeast, as well as ownership stakes in power plants elsewhere; leases on oil fields, terminals and pipeline capacity in Canada; and leases for petroleum-storage tanks in the Gulf Coast, these people said.

One asset attracting heightened interest from some buyers is a contractual agreement J.P. Morgan has with Philadelphia Energy Solutions, a venture between Sunoco Inc. and the Carlyle Group CG -3.70% that owns and operates a refinery. The bank provides cash and crude to the refinery, and then purchases the refined product to trade and resell into the market. The arrangement is regarded as an attractive asset because there are multiple ways to make money from it. Any transfer of J.P. Morgan's interest in the agreement would have to be approved by other parties to the agreement.

Other assets may be more difficult to unload at a profit. J.P. Morgan is currently paying more to rent storage facilities for oil products than such leases would fetch on the open market. The value of these leases has declined in the last two years due to shifts in futures prices that no longer make storage profitable. "Some have value, and some have negative value," one person said.

The people familiar with the sale process said they didn't expect the bank to set opening prices on the assets. Rather, interested parties are expected to make offers based on the financial information provided, and the bank will evaluate bids on a case-by-case basis.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-19/doj-picks-where-ferc-left-begins-investigation-jpmorgans-enronesque-energy-market-ma

DOJ Picks Up Where FERC Left Off: Begins Investigation Of JPMorgan's "Enronesque" Energy Market Manipulation

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/19/2013 18:50 -0400

• Blythe Masters
 
• Department of Justice
 
• Enron
 
• Jamie Dimon
 
• Market Manipulation
 
• SAC
 
• White House

On July 30, when FERC announced that it had agreed to resolve it allegations of JPMorgan manipulation of the energy market for a $410 million fine, with the bank neither admitting nor denying guilt, we posited that the only question on Jamie Dimon's mind was whether to pay the fine from petty cash or just to charge it on his corporate Amex. Three weeks later he may have some other questions swirling in his head, such as "whose Christmas lobbying stocking did I not fill with campaign donations?" after the WSJ reported that it is no longer FERC, but the DOJ itself, led by Preet Bharara, which is investigating whether JPM manipulated energy markets.

Ironically, this is a deja vu of the SAC take down by the same Bharara, when a few months after SAC settled with the SEC it was shocked to be crushed by the Department of Justice which pulled an "Arthur Anderson" on it and for all intents and purposes shut it down (although with nobody sent to prison). It remains to be seen if Bharara will have the balls to take this prosecution to the next level and whether after he made SAC into Arthur Anderson, he will make JPMorgan into the New Normal's Enron and whether Jamie Dimon or Blythe Masters will be the next Lay and/or Skilling. One can hope.

From the WSJ:

The Justice Department is investigating whether J.P. Morgan Chase manipulated U.S. energy markets, according to people familiar with the case, marking the latest legal hurdle for a bank already facing a mountain of litigation and regulatory scrutiny. J.P. Morgan last month agreed to pay $410 million to settle allegations raised by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that the bank manipulated markets in California and the Midwest. J.P. Morgan didn't admit to wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

The Justice Department decided to examine J.P. Morgan's energy practices in recent weeks as that settlement was being wrapped up, according to the people familiar with the probe.

The people cautioned the probe is still in its early stages and the outcome uncertain. J.P. Morgan declined to comment on the investigation.

The case, according to the people, is being handled by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who earlier this month accused two former J.P. Morgan traders of hiding losses on runaway bets that cost the bank more than $6 billion. Mr. Bharara will look at some of the same issues that were at the center of the FERC case, these people said. It isn't known if the investigation is civil or criminal. The U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.

Just another tempest in a teapot? Or is it becoming clear that someone in the government was less than ecstatic with Jamie Dimon wearing White House cuff links (and will Jamie wear Kremlin cuff links at his next congressional hearing)? The question, however, is whether that someone will have the courage to truly take JPM to task instead of extracting yet another $500 million "fine", where the firm neither admits nor denies guilt, where nobody goes to prison, and where despite the Copperfieldian optics, things continue just as they are.

In the off chance that this time is different, we would not want to be in Blythe Masters' shoes after all, especially not following today's most recent 50,000 ounce withdrawal of gold from JPM's (soon to be sold) gold vault.

JPMorgan Is Selling The Building That Houses Its Gold Vault

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/18/2013 - 09:50

On the surface, there is nothing spectacular about the weekend news that JPMorgan is seeking to sell its 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza office building. After all, the former headquarters of Chase Manhattan Bank, located deep in the heart of the financial district and which was built by its then chairman David Rockefeller, is a remnant to another time - a time when banking was about providing loans, not about managing and trading assets which has become the realm of Midtown New York, and since JPM already has extensive Midtown exposure with its offices at 270, 270 and 245 Park, the 1 CMP building always stood out as a bit of a sore thumb. Of course, as Zero Hedge readersfirst learned, the big surprise is literally below the surface, some 90 feet below street level to be exact, where the formerly secret JPM gold vault is located, which also happens to be the biggest commercial gold vault in the world.