On July 9, 2020, Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP (“Kessler Topaz”) filed a class action lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co. (“JPM”) and other related JPM entities on behalf of investors who purchased U.S. Treasury futures contracts and options on those contracts (“Treasury Futures”) from January 1, 2009 through the present (the “Class Period”). The action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The Alleged Wrongful Conduct
As alleged in the complaint, for years, JPM and the other JPM defendants have engaged in the unlawful and intentional manipulation of Treasury Futures that trade on United States-based exchanges. Specifically, throughout the Class Period, the defendants routinely engaged in a sophisticated and manipulative scheme in which they injected materially false and illegitimate signals of supply and demand into the Treasury Futures market in order to: (a) induce other market participants to trade against the defendants’ Genuine Orders (i.e., orders that the defendants did want to execute) on the opposite side of the market from the spoof orders at prices, quantities, and times at which other market participants otherwise would not have traded; and (b) financially benefit the defendants.
The defendants purposefully concealed their misconduct from investors until JPM disclosed that it is subject to a criminal investigation in its 2019 Form 10-K. JPM admitted that the Department of Justice is investigating “trading-practice issues in markets . . . such as U.S. Treasuries.” The defendants have been investigated by federal regulators previously for their spoofing practices. In 2019, two JPM employees pled guilty to spoofing charges, admitting that they “learned to spoof from more senior traders, and spoofed with the knowledge and consent of [their] supervisors.”
If you traded Treasury Futures between January 1, 2009 through the present, and would like to learn more about this action, please fill out our online form or contact us today toll free at 1-844-887-9500 or info@ktmc.com.