The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether JPMorgan Chase & Co inappropriately steered private-banking clients to its own investment products and away from those offered by outside firms, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The civil inquiry by the SEC's enforcement division is parallel to one launched several months ago by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Journal reported. The OCC began questioning bank executives several months ago about the percentage of clients' assets that were being directed to JPMorgan's own funds and products instead of third-party options, the Journal said. The regulator routinely monitors banks' sales of in-house financial products to clients. The SEC probe is the latest in a series of regulatory probes for the Wall Street bank, which paid $13 billion last year to settle civil fraud claims that it misled mortgage bond investors. JPMorgan was not immediately
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