Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased JP Morgan Chase & Co. (“JPMorgan” or the “Company”) (NYSE: JPM) securities between February 23, 2016 and September 23, 2020, inclusive (the “Class Period”). JPMorgan investors have until December 23, 2020 to file a lead plaintiff motion.
On November 6, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") announced in a press release that former JPMorgan precious metals trader John Edmonds had pled guilty to commodities fraud and spoofing conspiracy—i.e., placing larger orders with no intention of executing, thereby creating an artificial impression of high demand or supply of the commodity in question.
On August 20, 2019, the DOJ then announced that another JPMorgan employee, Christian Trunz, pled guilty to spoofing charges, admitting that he had learned to spoof from more senior traders and had engaged in spoofing with the knowledge and consent of his supervisors.
On September 23, 2020, Bloomberg reported that the Company was nearing a settlement to resolve the spoofing charges, stating that JPMorgan was "poised to pay close to $1 billion."
On this news, JPMorgan's stock price fell $2.04 per share, or 2.15%, to close at $92.74 per share on September 23, 2020.
On September 29, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission formally announced that it had ordered JPMorgan to pay $920 million to settle spoofing and market manipulation charges.
The complaint filed alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) traders at the Company, with the knowledge and consent of their superiors, manipulated the precious metals market by "spoofing," or placing fake orders to generate the appearance of market demand; (2) the Company had insufficient controls and compliance protocols to enable it to identify and stop the misconduct; (3) the Company's earnings in the physical commodity market were, at least in part, ill-gotten; (4) such conduct would result in enhanced regulatory scrutiny; (5) the Company provided misleading information to CFTC investigators at early stages of the investigation into the misconduct; (6) resolution of the governmental investigation into the Company would result in a record-breaking $920 million fine; and (7) as a result, Defendants' statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
If you purchased JPMorgan securities, have information or would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Howard G. Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020 by telephone at (215) 638-4847, toll-free at (888) 638-4847, or by email to howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com, or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com.
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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201030005149/en/
Contacts:
Howard G. Smith, Esquire
215-638-4847
888-638-4847
howardsmith@howardsmithlaw.com
www.howardsmithlaw.com
