JPMorgan Chase has hired Matthew Biben, a former senior lawyer at Bank of New York Mellon, as the general counsel of its home lending unit, as the bank revamps its mortgage operations, according to an internal memorandum obtained by DealBook.  He starts next week and will work closely with Daniel Cooney, a senior legal adviser for Chase’s retail financial services.

Mr. Biben, a former federal prosecutor who worked at BNY Mellon for more than 6 years as a Deputy General Counsel, will work with JPM CAO Frank Bisignano, who was newly named the head of the Chase Home Lending business. He most recently worked as the general counsel of Next Jump, an Internet technology company.

JPMorgan hopes Mr. Biben is its answer to the challenges that face all bank mortgage unit banks.  However, JPMorgan and others still face questions over their foreclosure practices, even as they still work through the problematic loans made in the run-up to the financial crisis.   [NYT Dealbook, 3/7]