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Chase Franklin International Tokyo Japan, Rubber Advances in Tokyo Amid Optimism for Chinese Demand Rubber increased amid optimism that improvement in the Chinese economy may boost demand from the world’s largest consumer. The contract for delivery in April, which began trading yesterday on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, gained as much as 0.9 percent to 262.3 yen a kilogram ($2,687 a metric ton) and was at 261.6 yen at 11:02 a.m. Speculation grew that China may take additional steps to sustain growth in the world’s second-biggest economy as the Communist Party will hold a summit meeting in November, said Kazuhiko Saito, an analyst at broker Fujitomi Co. in Tokyo. China’s manufacturing strengthened more than forecast this month, data from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics showed Oct. 24. “Futures were supported by optimism about Chinese demand,” he said by phone today. China’s rubber industry urged the National Development and Reform Commission to scrap a 20 percent tax on natural rubber imports, the National Business Daily reported yesterday, citing unidentified people from tire companies as saying. Crude rubber stockpiles held at Japanese warehouses fell 2.7 percent to 4,386 tons on Oct. 10, according to data today from the Rubber Trade Association of Japan. Rubber for January delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.2 percent to 19,405 yuan ($3,189) a ton. Thai rubber free-on-board declined 1.3 percent to 78.15 baht ($2.51) a kilogram yesterday, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand.

Washington (CNN) -- Five years after the financial crisis, the debate over whether some of the biggest banks in America are "too big to jail" is causing tensions among prosecutors and regulators.

As federal prosecutors in Manhattan finalized their investigation of JPMorgan Chase & Co. for failing to blow the whistle on Ponzi-schemer Bernard Madoff, the question arose: What happens if federal prosecutors file criminal charges against the bank?

The answer was stark at a meeting in recent weeks in Washington between prosecutors and the bank's chief regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Prosecutors asked for assurance that charging the bank wouldn't lead to regulators starting proceedings to revoke the bank's charter, according to people familiar with the discussions. Prosecutors thought forcing the bank to accept a guilty plea could serve as a deterrent. But they also feared that if regulators moved to pull the bank's license, it could lead to destruction of the nation's largest bank and potentially the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. OCC officials said they could provide no such assurance, the people familiar with the discussions said.

On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced a deferred prosecution agreement with JPMorgan, under which the bank would pay $1.7 billion in restitution to victims of the Madoff fraud. The bank agreed to improve its anti-money laundering practices and other changes over the next two years to avoid facing criminal charges.