[ by Howard Haykin ] Bruno Iksil, a French citizen and a former London-based trader in JPMorgan Chase & Co's Chief Investment office, knows how to trade derivatives - notwithstanding the fact that he dropped a cool $5.8 billion that for a while, threatened the peace and contentment at his employer bank. Iksil also knows that he's at the center of the criminal investigation into JPMorgan's $5.8 billion loss, is himself a prime suspect, knows no one but he is looking out for his safety, and that you can never retain too many lawyers. Which is why the "London Whale" recently hired a lawyer in Paris, and lawyers in both New York and Washington. U.S. federal investigators are looking at whether Iksil, who was fired in July, and his superiors deliberately mismarked the value of some of the trading positions to try to cover up the losses.  JPMorgan is also conducting an internal probe.  The identities of the lawyers have not been released. At least 6 people have retained lawyers in connection with the investigation. Iksil's supervisors, Javier Martin-Artajo and Achilles Macris, who were also fired by the bank in the wake of the losses, have attorneys in London and New York. In addition to the CIO traders, the former head of the CIO office, Ina Drew, and 2 former risk officers, Peter Weiland, and Irvin Goldman, have also hired lawyers. This is not the first time in recent years that U.S. authorities have tried to tackle a trans-Atlantic investigation.  A case in which traders on a London credit desk at the Swiss bank Credit Suisse were caught mismarking their positions to hide losses is serving as a rubric of sorts for the JPMorgan probe, sources familiar with U.S. prosecutors' thinking have said. If the FBI, which is reviewing emails, phone records and witness statements about the CIO losses, finds evidence of fraud and criminal charges are brought, prosecutors could face some of the same hurdles in the JPMorgan case as they did with Credit Suisse traders. Iksil's French citizenship complicates potential efforts to bring him to the U.S. for a trial. Witnesses whose cooperation may be crucial to the case will also have to come to New York to testify in the event of a trial. For further details, go to:  [Reuters, 8/23/12].