The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday that JPMorgan Chase & Company (JPM) agreed to pay more than $700 million to settle federal regulators' charges for an unlawful payment scheme that helped them win business involving municipal-bond offerings and swap-agreement transactions in Jefferson County , Alabama. JPMorgan Securities Inc, a division of JPMorgan Chase & Company, and two of its former managing directors, Charles LeCroy and Douglas MacFaddin, made those unlawful payments to win business and earn fees. The scandal was over the county's debt of around $4 billion which was pushing the county into the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. JPMorgan Securities has agreed to pay a fine of $25 million and $50 million to Jefferson County . The company will also lose more than $647 million in claimed termination fees on the swaps. JPMorgan, LeCroy and MacFaddin were alleged to have ...

Washington Federal Inc. (WFSL) initiated an underwritten public offering of $300 million of its common stock on Monday. The company plans to use proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including capital to support growth and acquisition opportunities. The net proceeds would also qualify as both tangible common equity and regulatory Tier 1 capital.

JPMorgan Securities Inc., a non-banking subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), is acting as the sole book-running manager for the offering. D.A. Davidson & Co. and McAdams Wright Ragen are acting as co-managers. The underwriters will probably get a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the shares offered to cover overallotments, if any.

The secondary market for subprime and other non-conforming mortgage loans collapsed during the recent market volatility and housing slump and most companies with an exposure to such loans reported massive losses.

Although Washington Federal

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