In announcing its second quarter results today, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. announced that it has increased its total litigation reserve to $4.7 billion before taxes. The reserve covers Morgan’s contingent liability in the ongoing Enron civil litigation and other securities cases, including the company’s dispute with WorldCom investors.
Excluding the litigation reserve charge, J.P. Morgan Chief Executive William B. Harrison Jr. described the second-quarter results as “comparable to the prior year.” That’s a bit like saying that, except for the elephant in the middle of the room, the rest of the room remains quite neat and tidy.