JPMorgan Chase is closing in on a deal with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) that could result in a tax refund of about $1.4 billion for the bank, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the talks.

JPMorgan was not available to comment on the report.

As part of a larger settlement with Washington Mutual's bondholders, JPMorgan can claim $1.4 billion of funds in the FDIC receivership to protect itself against exposure to mortgages that WaMu serviced, the Journal said.

Washington Mutual Inc , which is tied to the biggest bank failure in U.S. history, is eligible to receive about $5.6 billion in tax refunds as part of a court settlement. WaMu was seized by the FDIC in 2008 and was later sold to JPMorgan for $1.9 billion.

On March 12, Washington Mutual agreed to split the two potential tax refunds with JPMorgan and the FDIC.

WaMu agreed to receive $900 million of a $2.6 billion expected return, with the rest going to JPMorgan. A second $2.6 billion return will be bring in $1.04 billion for Washington Mutual with the rest going to the FDIC.

(Reporting by Anuradha Ramanathan in Bangalore; Editing by Dan Lalor)

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