[by Larry Goldfarb]

JP Morgan continues to be in the cross hairs of regulators, this time for weaknesses in its anti-money laundering processes. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a cease and desist order which is part of a broader crackdown on the nation's largest banks, the people said. The OCC is expected to require J.P. Morgan to beef up its procedures and examine past transactions.

The order would be the latest legal challenge to the nation's largest bank.  Investigators are already looking into:

• a trading fiasco within the New York company's Chief Investment Office, whether
• a J.P. Morgan energy unit manipulated trading markets in California
• How a Bear Stearns unit packaged and sold home loans to investors before the financial crisis.

The expected action highlights the heightened interest among regulators, law-enforcement agencies and legislators in battling money-laundering. State and federal officials have been building prominent cases in recent months against banks, including Standard Chartered PLC and HSBC Holdings PLC.

The OCC's expected action against J.P. Morgan likely will mirror the one it took in April against Citigroup Inc. The OCC, part of the Treasury Department, ordered Citigroup to improve its anti-money-laundering procedures after the company reported lapses at its deposit-taking bank. No fines were given, but the OCC told Citigroup to upgrade its transaction-monitoring procedures and enhance internal audits  .

OCC Director Thomas Curry said in an interview Thursday that a zero-tolerance assessment was "too harsh," but he acknowledged "a change in tone" compared with the pre-financial-crisis period. "Passable is not acceptable," he said. He said he expects to see progress "in a relatively short period of time."

For further information, Please read [WSJ. 11/16/12]