JPMorgan faces both criminal and civil investigations over mortgages

(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, said on Wednesday it is being investigated by civil and criminal divisions of the U.S. Department of Justice over offerings of mortgage-backed securities.

The civil division gave the company a notice in May that it had preliminarily concluded that the firm violated federal securities laws in offerings of subprime and Alt-A residential mortgage securities during 2005 to 2007, JPMorgan said.

The company made the disclosures in a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

JPMorgan also raised its estimate of possible legal losses in excess of reserves to $6.8 billion at the end of June from $6 billion three months earlier.

(Reporting by David Henry in New York)