[JURIST] The second largest bank in the nation, JP Morgan Chase & Co. [corporate website], has publicly disclosed that two of its predecessor banks had received thousands of slaves as collateral prior to the Civil War. JP Morgan offered a formal apology letter Thursday and said it was creating a $5 million dollar scholarship fund for African-American students from Louisiana. The discovery was made after a 2003 Chicago ordinance required any company that does business with the city to research their history and determine if the company had any links to slavery; similar ordinances have since been adopted by Los Angeles and Chicago [Washington Times report]. AP has more.