????上周五，摩根大通（JPMorgan）表示，公司已備好230億美元用于支付未來的罰款和法律賬單。即便拋開資金規模，這樣的披露也不尋常。銀行通常不會透露它們為法律賬單準備了多少錢。這也是摩根大通首次披露這一數字。

????銀行業高管多年以來一直表示，他們不會披露這個數字，因為這樣做可能導致他們遭遇更多訴訟，而且也不利于他們與監管機構的談判。杰克?韋爾奇就在美國消費者新聞與財經電視頻道（CNBC）上表示，公布這個數字是摩根大通CEO吉米?戴蒙的一步昏招。“現在，摩根大通成了塊肥肉，”韋爾奇稱，這位通用電氣（GE）前CEO被視為是管理界泰斗。韋爾奇表示，現在監管機構和其他人都知道摩根大通會愿意付多少錢。

????但這種說法還是有點牽強。摩根大通只是表示為將來的法律賬單及和解總共準備了多少錢，它可沒說會為哪個案件付多少錢。它可以輕而易舉地告知監管機構，這些錢是為其他案件準備的。上周五在摩根大通業績發布后的記者電話會議上，戴蒙拒絕透露這230億美元是為哪些案件設立的。

????而且，摩根大通不一定要花出這些錢。這些只是準備金。銀行也總是回撥準備金。僅今年第三季度，摩根大通就從壞賬準備金中撥回了19億美元。

????分析師們早已對摩根大通的法律賬單作出過估算。上周五，摩根大通宣布再增加92億美元法律準備金前，摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）分析師貝特西?格拉塞克曾預測其法律準備金的規模為120億美元。另一位分析師的預測為150億美元。因此，實際數字與這些預測相當接近。

????不管怎樣，戴蒙必然是迫于壓力才發布實際數字的。因為有擔憂認為，摩根大通尚未計提足夠的準備金用于大規模和解。他可能感覺摩根大通計提了準備金，但未獲外界認可。但這個數字的確表明，這家銀行未來仍將面臨相當數額的法律賬單。

????坊間傳言，摩根大通將向多家監管機構支付110億美元，就一些指控達成和解。這些指控稱，在金融危機即將爆發前，這家銀行在抵押債品質方面誤導了投資者。如果刨除這部分，摩根大通的準備金還剩下120億美元。目前的摩根大通陷于多宗法律訴訟之中。但在摩根大通支付近10億美元了結與倫敦鯨（London Whale）相關的指控，花近5億美元了結加州能源價格操縱指控后，除了還有抵押債指控可能以110億美元和解外，幾乎沒人認為摩根大通未來還會面臨更多的巨額和解。

????參加上述電話會議的分析師們還在追問另一件怪事。除法律準備金外，銀行通常會透露，可能要為法律賬單超出準備金部分支付多少。盡管往準備金中增加了92億美元，摩根大通給出的超額法律成本預測值僅下降了約10億美元，減少到了57億美元。摩根大通拒絕評論為什么這項數字沒有出現更大幅度的下降，也沒有屆時這50多億美元的緣由。

????不過，多少透露一點法律相關費用總好過絕口不提吧。

????On Friday, JPMorgan said that it had put aside $23 billion to cover future fines and legal bills. Even beyond the size, the disclosure was an unusual one. Banks don't typically say how much they have to cover legal bills. And it's the first time that JPMorgan has ever disclosed the number.

????Bank executives have long said they won't disclose the figure because it could open them up to more suits or hurt their negotiations with regulators. Indeed, Jack Welch on CNBC implied releasing the number was a silly move on CEO Jamie Dimon's part. "It's going to be open season," said Welch, the former CEO of GE, who is considered a management guru. Welch said regulators and others will now know how much JPMorgan will be willing to pay.

????But that excuse has always been a little weak. Just because JPMorgan is saying how much in total it would spend on its legal bills and settlements, it doesn't say anything about what it would spend on any one case. It could easily tell regulators that they money is committed to other cases. And indeed in a call with reporters following its earnings announcement on Friday, Dimon refused to say what the $23 billion was for.

????What's more, JPMorgan doesn't have to spend the money. It's just a reserve. And banks reverse reserves all the time. JPMorgan (JPM) took back $1.9 billion in loan loss reserves in the third quarter of this year alone.

????Analysts had already made their guesses about JPMorgan's legal bills. Morgan Stanley analyst Betsy Graseck estimated the legal reserve was $12 billion, before Friday's announcement that JPMorgan was going to add another $9.2 billion. Another analyst put it at $15 billion. So the actual number was pretty close.

????Nonetheless, Dimon must have felt compelled to release the actual number because of concerns that the bank hadn't put enough aside to cover large settlements. He may have felt that his bank was not getting credit for the money it had already put away. But the number does suggest that the bank still has significant legal bills ahead of it.

????It has been rumored that the bank will pay $11 billion to settle claims from a number of regulators that it misled investors about the quality of the mortgages it was selling in the run up to the financial crisis. That still leaves another $12 billion that JPMorgan expects to pay out. JPMorgan is in the middle of a number of legal battles. But having paid nearly $1 billion to settle charges related to the London Whale, and nearly $500 million for manipulating energy prices in California, few thought JPMorgan, beside the $11 billion for mortgages, had that many more big ticket settlements still ahead of it.

????Analysts on the conference call also pounced on another oddity. On top of legal reserves, banks typically say how much they might have to pay in legal bills above what they have put away in reserves. Despite adding $9.2 billion to its reserves, JPMorgan's estimate of excess legal costs only dropped by about a billion to $5.7 billion. JPMorgan executives declined to comment why that number hadn't dropped more, and what that additional $5 billion could be for.

????Still, a little bit of light on legal fees is better than nothing.