JPMorgan faces U.S. action on anti money-laundering practices: WSJ

U.S. regulators are expected to serve a formal notice to JPMorgan Chase & Co accusing the nation's biggest bank of having weaknesses in its anti money-laundering systems, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people close to the situation.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's (OCC's) cease-and-desist order to JPMorgan is part of a broader crackdown on the nation's largest banks, the people told the paper.

The OCC is expected to require JPMorgan to beef up its procedures and examine past transactions, the Journal said. (http://link.reuters.com/sys93t)

Investigators and regulators are examining risk controls surrounding a multi-billion dollar trading loss within the company's Chief Investment Office.

The authorities are also probing whether a JPMorgan energy unit manipulated trading markets in California and how the bank's Bear Stearns unit packaged and sold home loans to investors before the financial crisis, the paper said.

The bank in recent months has been in talks with the OCC over terms of the action, the paper said.

OCC Director Thomas Curry declined to comment to the Journal on the cease-and-desist order but said the OCC would not hesitate if it concludes that a public action is warranted for any big bank.

"It's important for the public to know that regulators are doing their job," Curry told the paper.

JPMorgan and the OCC could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)