In a payout of historic proportions, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay $150 million in a class action settlement over investor claims that it concealed as much as $6.2 billion in losses caused by a trader who became known as the London Whale.
According to a group of pension funds, JPMorgan converted its chief investment office in London into a “secret hedge fund” that triggered the losses. Although the bank assured investors that the office’s primary role was managing risk, it was making trades to generate profit, plaintiffs asserted.