London Whale

JPMorgan to Pay $150M to Pension Funds Over London Whale-Related Losses

Published on: May 12, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A U.S. district court judge has approved a settlement reached at the end of last year between JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and pension funds related to trades made by Bruno Iksil, who earned the nickname “London Whale” because of his huge market-moving positions in credit derivatives. In their class action securities case, the plaintiffs accused the firm of using its chief investment office in London as a secret hedge fund and hiding up to $6.2M in losses.

Even though the office was supposed to be primarily for managing risk, the plaintiffs believe that it was making high-risk trades for profit, including trading in complex credit derivatives. Depositors’ money was purportedly used in secret for making certain trades. Shareholders claim that JPMorgan knew about the increased risks it was taking and hiding them.

JPMorgan has not admitted to wrongdoing by settling this deal. However, it was also fined over $1B by regulators in the U.K. and the U.S. for management deficiencies related to the London Whale scandal.

UK Regulator Fines Ex-JPMorgan Executive $1.1 Over London Whale Debacle

Published on: February 9, 2016 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is fining former JPMorgan Chase (JPM) executive Achilles Macris approximately $1.1M for failing to cooperate and communicate properly with regulators during the agency probe into the London Whale fiasco. Although Macris is now agreeing to settle the securities charges, he continues to defend himself. He insists that he stayed “above and beyond any reasonable” transparency standards and that he is only agreeing to resolve this case because the F.C.A. had accepted his contention that he did not mislead anyone on purpose. The FCA would not comment on Macris’ statements about the settlement.

The former JPMorgan executive was in charge of the firm’s chief investment office in London, which was supposed to invest funds for the bank and help offset possible losses. Unfortunately, a bad bet made by the unit on credit derivatives cost the bank $6.2B.

JPMorgan Chase Resolves “London Whale” Class Action Securities Lawsuit for $150M

Published on: December 22, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) will pay $150 million to resolve investor claims accusing the firm of concealing up to $6.2 billion in losses caused by the trader Bruno Iksil, who was given the nickname “London Whale.” Pension funds filed a class action securities case accusing the firm of using its investment office in London as a secret hedge fund. According to the plaintiffs, the bank told them that the office was managing risk when what it was actually doing was making trades for profit. Investors were harmed when huge losses resulting from transactions made through the London office caused the bank’s share price to drop.

The pension funds said that they suffered tens of millions of dollars of losses because fund managers were provided with information that was “false and misleading.” They also believe that the bank knowingly concealed the growing risks that were occurring at the London office.

Plaintiffs of this lawsuit include the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, which says it lost $2.5 million, the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, the state of Ohio, funds in Arkansas, Swedish pension fund AP7, and other JP Morgan shareholders that purchased stock between 2/24/10—this is when the company submitted to regulators its 2009 earnings report—and 5/21/12. The latter date is when the firm announced that it was stopping a $15 billion share buyback program until it could get a better handle of the losses sustained.