Jake Bernstein

Reporter

Jake Bernstein was a business reporter for ProPublica. He was featured in the Best Business Writing in 2012 and 2013.

In April 2011, Bernstein and colleague Jesse Eisinger were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for a series of stories on questionable Wall Street practices that helped make the financial crisis the worst since the Great Depression.

Prior to joining ProPublica, Bernstein worked at The Texas Observer, an investigative biweekly, for six years, and as its executive editor from 2004 to 2008. Bernstein began his career in Central America, where for several years he reported on efforts to end longstanding civil conflicts. He served as a staff writer for the Pasadena [Texas] Citizen and then for the Miami New Times. His work has received numerous state-level and national journalism awards, and The Texas Observer, under his leadership, was named Best Political Magazine of 2005 by Utne Reader. Bernstein is co-author of Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency (2006).

Florida Bank, Used as ATM by Insiders, Won TARP Loan But Now Teeters

U.S. Century Bank had very high rates of insider loans and other red flags, yet got a $50.2 million TARP loan. Now that taxpayer money may be lost as the bank stumbles under heavy losses.

Wells Fargo Picks to Pay

The bank agrees to pay $590 million to settle claims alleging that Wachovia, acquired by Wells Fargo in 2008, misrepresented its financial health and the quality of its bonds.

Damned If You Do or Don't: How Murdoch Reporters' Bribes to British Cops Violate U.S. Law

News Corp. employees in Britain could be charged in U.S. with bribery if they recorded payments accurately in the company's books and inaccurate accounting if they didn't.

After SEC Settlement With JPMorgan, Will Other Banks Pay Too?

Many other banks created deals with similar characteristics to the transaction that resulted in JPMorgan's $154 million settlement with the government. But the SEC still faces big challenges in wresting more settlements from banks.

From Dodd-Frank to Dud: How Financial Reform May Be Going Wrong

Some fear the grandest ambitions of the law passed last year to reform the nation's financial system are being undermined in the rule-making process.

U.S. Senate Investigation Gives New Details on Magnetar

Citing reports by ProPublica, lawmakers describe the hedge fund's role in the collateralized debt obligations business.

Madoff Calls Big Investors 'Complicit' in Jailhouse Interview

In an interview with the Financial Times, Bernard Madoff names four associates who he alleges knew that his business wasn't on the level.

What We’re Still Wondering About the Madoff Ponzi Scheme

New Documents Show Hedge Fund Magnetar Influenced Deal, Despite Denials

A Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission document shows Magnetar selected assets for a billion dollar Merrill Lynch mortgage securities deal, despite having long asserted otherwise.

The 'Subsidy': How a Handful of Merrill Lynch Bankers Helped Blow Up Their Own Firm

The builders of mortgage securities at industry giant Merrill Lynch couldn’t find buyers for their wares. So they paid another group at Merrill to take billions of dollars of the unwanted assets.

SEC Investigating Citigroup Mortgage Deal

The SEC is investigating whether in the run-up to the financial crisis Citi acted improperly as it created and marketed a $1 billion CDO.

SEC Investigating Deal Between JPMorgan and Hedge Fund Magnetar

The SEC is investigating whether JPMorgan adequately disclosed to investors that the hedge fund Magnetar influenced a deal it was also betting against.

Magnetar Responds to Our April Story—And Our Response

Magnetar Deals at Center of New Lawsuit

A European-based investment fund and a French bank are battling it out in New York state court over complex securities created at the behest of the hedge fund Magnetar

Which CDOs and Banks Had Deals With the Most Cross-ownership?

See which CDOs exchanged pieces with other CDOs through our interactive feature that reveals the incestuous nature of Wall Street’s CDO business.

A Q&A About Our Investigation on Banks’ Self-Dealing

About Our Data

A Bank's Best Customer: Its Own CDOs

Chart: A Bank's Best Customers

In the last two years of the boom, CDOs created by one bank commonly purchased slices of other CDOs created by the same bank.

Banks' Self-Dealing Super-Charged Financial Crisis

As investors left the market in the run-up to the meltdown, Wall Street created fake demand, increasing their bonuses — and ultimately making the crisis worse.

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