JPMorgan moves to stop selling swaps

JPMorgan Chase & Co will stop selling interest-rate swaps to government borrowers in the $2.6 trillion US municipal bond market, which has been roiled by an antitrust probe and the near bankruptcy of Alabama's most-populous county.

At least seven former JPMorgan bankers are under scrutiny in a Justice Department criminal probe of whether banks conspired to overcharge local governments on swaps and other derivatives. JPMorgan also led a group of banks that charged $120 million in fees for such deals in Jefferson County, Alabama. That was as much as $100 million too high, the county's former adviser said.

Wall Street marketed unregulated derivatives as a way for municipal borrowers to save money.