Former trader at JP Morgan wins case against investment bank over spoofing
A former JP Morgan Chase trader has won an employment suit against the banking giant, after a London judge found that he did not engage in a market manipulation spoofing scandal.
Judge Stephen Knight said Bradley Jones, the former cash equities trader, was unfairly dismissed, in a ruling published this morning, according to a Bloomberg report.
Jones successfully argued that he was fired because the bank wanted to show it was taking a tougher line on a spoofing scandal which cost the company close to $1bn (£724m) in penalties.
Spoofing is when a trader enters buy or sell orders, only to cancel them before they are executed. It creates a false picture of demand which a trader can then use to manipulate the actions of other market participants and earn a profit.
The ruling comes as a blow for the bank, which took a hard line approach to spoofing allegations after accepting that market manipulation was rife at two of its trading desks in the US. Regulatory investigations that began in 2019 resulted in JP Morgan agreeing to pay over $920m (£666m) to resolve claims that desks were spoofing markets in precious metals and treasuries.
JP Morgan “changed its approach to the 2016 sell orders because of its desire to appease its regulators by showing it was “cleaning up its act,” said the judge.
Jones wants to be re-hired by JPM organ so he can reclaim his lost salary which would be greater than any tribunal award, according to Bloomberg.
In the UK, most employment awards are capped at around £80,000 except in cases where there is evidence of discrimination or retaliation.