JPMorgan Chase & Co has won a court order requiring plaintiffs’ lawyers pursuing a securities fraud lawsuit against it to disclose the identities of witnesses sourced anonymously in the complaint.

Continue reading “JPMorgan to obtain identities of confidential witnesses in securities class action”

JPMorgan Chase and law firm Bickerstaff Heath Delgado & Acosta LLP are defendants in a class action lawsuit that was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.  The lawsuit accuses Chase of colluding with collection agencies and law firms to collect debts in excess of what consumers owed, debts already paid or for purely fictitious debts, and claims that the scheme allegedly enabled Chase and its co-conspirators to illegally collect hundreds of million of dollars from consumers. 

The action seeks restitution, interest and treble damages for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund has been named, along with public pension funds from Arkansas, Ohio and Sweden, as a lead plaintiff in a proposed securities fraud class action against JPMorgan Chase & Co. over trades made by Bruno Iksil, known as the “London Whale.”  U.S. District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan ruled Tuesday that lawsuits against the bank should be consolidated into one class action.  The pension funds allege they lost as much as $52 million because of fraudulent activities by JPMorgan’s London chief investment office. Continue reading “OPERF named one of lead plaintiffs in JPMorgan Chase case”

On August 9, 2012, Judge Maxine Chesney, a federal judge in the Northern District of California preliminarily approved the $100 million class action settlement of the Chase Check Loan Class Action I previously wrote about on this blog. 

The Fairness Hearing is scheduled for November 16, 2012, where the court will determine whether to grant final approval to the settlement.  The court directed that notices should be sent to class members informing them of the settlement.

A former brokerage client has sued JPMorgan Chase & Co. for allegedly steering him and other investors to overpriced, underperforming funds to boost the bank’s fees and profits.  According to the complaint, JPMorgan falsely represented its financial advisers were operating under fiduciary duty to clients, while its bonuses encouraged the sale of proprietary funds.  The complaint seeks class action status.

The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, follows a report about JPMorgan’s practices published on July 2 by the New York Times. Continue reading “Former brokerage client files class action against JPMorgan”

A class action lawsuit was filed on July 13, 2012 in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMorgan). JPMorgan, unbeknownst to its customers, has directed its clients into its own JPMorgan funds even when those funds were not suitable investments. JPMorgan did so to earn increased fees at the expense of their clients. As a result of Defendant’s conduct, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Manhattan district attorney, and officials in New Jersey and Delaware are investigating Defendant’s sales practices. All current or former JPMorgan clients who invested in JPMorgan mutual funds from January 1, 2007 through the present are eligible to participate in the suit. Continue reading “Class action filed against JPMorgan Chase”

Earlier, I posted a note indicating that Chase had settled the class action against it arising out of its check loan scheme.  On July 23, 2012, counsel for the plaintiffs filed a motion for preliminary approval, which disclosed that the settlement was for $100 million.  

As you know, the class action sought recovery from Chase based on Chase’s alleged breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing which applies to every contract. On behalf of the class, plaintiffs sought as damages from Chase a dollar amount which would reasonably approximate the value of the loans as promised (with the 2% minimum monthly payments), which class members lost at the time Chase unilaterally changed the loans’ terms. Continue reading “Chase settles check loan class action for $100 million”

On May 25, 2012, Judge King in the Southern District of Florida preliminarily approved the $100 million settlement between JPMorgan Chase and its customers who were allegedly charged excessive overdraft fees when JPMorgan Chase switched its method for ordering transactions based on highest to lowest.

A Final Approval Hearing has yet to be scheduled.

On May 15, 2012, a shareholder filed a class action complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of purchasers of common stock in JPMorgan Chase & Co. between April 13, 2012 and May 10, 2012 inclusive.

The lawsuit alleges violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that occurred when Defendants issued materially false and misleading statements regarding the losses and risk of loss to the company arising from massive bets on derivative contracts related to credit indexes reflecting interest rates on corporate bonds.  These derivative bets went horribly wrong, resulting in billions of dollars in lost capital for the company and billions more in lost market capitalization for JPMorgan shareholders. Continue reading “Class action filed against JPMorgan Chase relating to bet on derivative contracts”

On May 16, 2012, the parties advised the court that on May 11, 2012, with the help of the Hon. Edward A. Infante (Ret.) of JAMS, the parties reached an agreement in principle to resolve a class action filed by Chase credit card customers against Chase that I had previously written about on this blog.

About a year ago, on May 13, 2011, the District Court of the Northern District of California certified this case as a class action.  Chase credit card customers allege in the complaint that they were offered balance transfer loans or loans in the form of blank checks that were connected to their credit cards, but with different terms.  The plaintiffs also claim that the promotional rate loans offered by Chase had terms that were at low interest rates usually with APRs or interest rates set at 2.99% or 3.99% “for the life of the loan.”  Continue reading “Chase announces settlement of check loan class action”

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Chase Bank USA, National Association and Chase Bankcard Services, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, entitled Gerald Maher v. Chase Bank USA, National Association and Chase Bankcard Services, Inc..  The complaint alleges that Chase sent convenience checks to Chase credit card account holders, but when the convenient checks were used by Chase customers they were allegedly returned, denied processing or dishonored. Continue reading “Class action filed against Chase Bank by customers who used convenience checks”

The MF Global financial trading scandal reached Missoula on Monday when a group of Montana farmers filed a class action lawsuit to recover money they claim was stolen from their personal accounts with the New Jersey firm.  “When Jon Corzine bet the farm on some European sovereign debt, he was betting our farms,” Fairfield farmer Marty Kinker said during a news conference outside the Missoula Federal Courthouse.

Kinker is the lead plaintiff in the case against MF Global principals Corzine, Christine A. Serwinski and David Simmons, JPMorgan Chase and Co. and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.  Corzine was a former Democratic Governor of New Jersey and U.S. Senator. Continue reading “Montana farmers file class action against Pricewaterhouse and JPMorgan Chase relating to MF Global Accounts”

A class of JPMorgan Chase customers claims the bank and its affiliate Cross Country Insurance took millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks and “an unlawful split of private mortgage insurance premiums paid by JPMorgan’s customers” to private mortgage insurers.

The five named plaintiffs were purchasers of private mortgage insurance and claim JPMorgan spun a “captive reinsurance scheme,” in violation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). Continue reading “JPMorgan Chase faces class action over illegal kickbacks”