JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) London unit was fined a record 33.3 million pounds ($48.9 million) by Britain’s financial regulator for not properly separating client money from the firm’s accounts. An average of $8.6 billion wasn’t properly segregated by JPMorgan Securities Ltd. in an error that went undetected for seven years, the Financial Services Authority said in a statement today. Client money held by the bank’s futures and options business wasn’t put in a separate overnight customer account, the FSA said. –Bloomberg
Ford Motor (NYSE:F) has confirmed speculation that it plans to kill the Mercury brand. The automaker said Wednesday it will cease production of Mercury vehicles in the fourth quarter, freeing resources the automaker will then allocate to its core Ford and upscale Lincoln brands. The news followed an upbeat sales report that showed Ford sales rose 23% in May. In other news, AT&T (NYSE:T) gained nearly 2% Wednesday after the telecommunications giant said its new customers will no longer have the option of unlimited wireless plans when purchasing Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad or iPhone devices or other smart phones, beginning June 7. In doing so, AT&T will become the first major U.S. wireless company to move away from unlimited Internet plans and introduce metered billing. –Daily Finance
Jos. A. Bank Clothiers (NASDAQ:JOSB) said Wednesday that its fiscal first-quarter net profit rose 38% to $15.8 million, or 85 cents a share, from $11.5 million, or 62 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales for the period ended May 1 rose 10% to $178.1 million, with comparable store sales up 10.4%. Analysts polled by FactSet had been expecting earnings of 72 cents a share. "With this quarter’s results, we have achieved earnings growth in 34 of the past 35 quarters when compared to the respective prior year periods, including 16 quarters in a row," said CEO R. Neal Black. –MarketWatch
The euro and other risk-sensitive currencies advanced as market sentiment improved in response to solid U.S. and euro-zone data and an absence of any bad news from Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis. Movements in the major currencies have been relatively contained, with the euro already surrendering some of its earlier gains in comparatively thin trading. "The key driver is really the absence of bad news and some position adjusting in the wake of stronger commodity and equity prices," said currency strategists at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York. –The Wall Street Journal
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