The JPMorgan Chase & Co. trader known as the "London Whale" has reached an agreement with federal authorities to avoid criminal prosecution over a $6 billion trading loss, but two former colleagues are expected to be charged as soon as today, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Prosecutors are expected to charge Javier Martin-Artajo, a Spaniard who led the team that made the disastrous trades, and Julien Grout, a Frenchman responsible for recording and distributing daily values on the group's positions. They don't, however, plan to bring charges against Bruno Iksil, who made the wagers that earned him the nickname of the "London Whale." The developments mark the first move by prosecutors trying to uncover who was responsible for the trading fiasco in a London outpost of the bank's chief investment office, and whether any wrongdoing was involved. J.P. Morgan has been arguing that a small group of traders was largely responsible for the mess, which generated big trading losses early in 2012. It isn't clear whether prosecutors expect to bring charges against others, or have concluded that more-senior executives did nothing wrong.
