In a hearing full of testy exchanges, the dialogue between Mr. Levin and Mr. Braunstein is shaping up to be the toughest so far.
Mr. Braunstein reiterates that the statements he made on April 13 represented his best effort, based on the information he had at the time, to report on the positions at the time. Hindsight showed that JPMorgan executives misunderstood the implications of the trades.
Mr. Levin is distinctly unimpressed, saying that he has a hard time "believing that those statements were meant to do anything but calm the seas."
Plenty of information existed at the time that showed that, contrary to Mr. Braunstein's assertions on the April 13 call, the trades weren't serving as protection, but as "tactical" short-term investments. And the size of trades tripled over those three months in 2012.
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