JPMorgan inches closer to final settlement in US Treasury futures spoofing case
Several months after the New York Southern District Court preliminarily approved a settlement in a lawsuit accusing JPMorgan of spoofing the US Treasury futures market, the plaintiffs in the case have filed a motion for a final approval of the settlement. This becomes clear from the latest Court filings, seen by FX News Group.
Plaintiffs Charles Herbert Proctor, III, Synova Asset Management, LLC, Robert Charles Class A, L.P., Thomas Gramatis, Budo Trading LLC, Kohl Trading LLC, M & N Trading L.L.C., Port 22 LLC, and Rock Capital Markets LLC have moved for final approval of a class action settlement with Defendants JPMorgan Chase & Co., J.P. Morgan Clearing Corp. (now known as J.P. Morgan Securities LLC), J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, and J.P. Morgan Futures, Inc. (now known as J.P. Morgan Securities LLC).
The Settlement provides for a $15,700,000 cash payment to eligible Class Members impacted by JPMorgan’s alleged manipulation of U.S. Treasury futures contracts and options on those contracts traded on United States-based exchanges from April 1, 2008 through January 31, 2016. Specifically, Class Plaintiffs alleged that JPMorgan utilized a manipulative technique called “spoofing,” which involved purposefully placing U.S. Treasury Futures orders with the intent to cancel prior to execution to send false and illegitimate supply and demand signals to an otherwise efficient market.
If finally approved, the Settlement will resolve all claims against JPMorgan.
In granting preliminary approval of the Settlement, the Court found that it would likely be able to approve the Settlement under Rule 23(e)(2).
The reaction of the Class to the Settlement since Class Notice was issued only further supports the bases for finally approving the Settlement. Since the notice period began on January 10, 2022, the Postcard Notice has been mailed directly to more than 27,964 potential Class Members, and there have been more than 27,365 visits to the Settlement Website, which hosts the Class Notice, Proof of Claim and Release form, and other information about this lawsuit. While there are still a few weeks until the objection and opt-out deadlines, to date, there are no objections and no Class Members have requested exclusion from the Settlement.
This is a positive indication from the Class that the Settlement is a favorable resolution of the Class’s claims.