JPMorgan Chase Co
| Company Name | JPMorgan Chase Co |
| Stock Symbol | JPM |
| Class Period | February 23, 2020 to September 23, 2020 |
| Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline | December 23, 2020 |
On November 6, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") announced in a press release that former JPMorgan precious metals trader John Edmonds pleaded 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, had 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 JPMorgan was nearing a settlement to resolve the spoofing charges, stating that the Company was "poised to pay close to $1 billion."
On this news, the Company’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 the Company 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.
Submit Your Information
If you suffered a loss on your JPMorgan Chase Co investments or would like to inquire about joining an action to recover your loss under the federal securities laws, please complete the form below. Please note that submission of this form does not by itself form an attorney-client relationship nor does filing out this form mean you have joined any lawsuit.