JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) has reported within it’s Q1 filing SEC Form 10-Q, that discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding resolution of potential charges are in advanced stages relating to the firm’s Forex manipulation charges.
Moreover, discussions with the Federal Reserve regarding resolution of its investigation are also in advanced stages. Forex related investigations by other government authorities remain ongoing, including a criminal investigation by DOJ and a civil investigation by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, among others.
Since November 2013, a number of class actions have been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against a number of Forex dealers for alleged violations of federal and state antitrust laws and unjust enrichment based on an alleged conspiracy to manipulate foreign exchange rates reported on the WM/Reuters service.
In March 2014 plaintiffs filed a consolidated amended U.S. class action complaint; two other class actions were brought by non-U.S.-based plaintiffs. The Court denied defendants’ motion to dismiss the U.S. class action and granted the motion to dismiss the two non-U.S. class actions. In January 2015, JP Morgan settled the U.S. class action, with settlement subject to court approval.
JP Morgan is not through the woods yet as early in 2015, two additional class actions were filed seeking damages for persons who transacted FX futures and options on futures. This week we saw Swiss giant bank UBS state it is also in advanced stages to settle their own FX rate manipulation charges with DOJ.
JP Morgan, the largest bank in the United States said the amount it may lose related to litigation in excess of legal reserves could be as much as $5.5B as of March 31, down from $5.8B three months earlier.
To view JP Morgan’s Q1 SEC Form 10-Q filing, click here.