Litigation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2024

Litigation [Abstract]

Litigation

Litigation

Contingencies

As of September 30, 2024, the Firm and its subsidiaries and affiliates are defendants or respondents in numerous evolving legal proceedings, including private proceedings, public proceedings, government investigations, regulatory enforcement matters, and the matters described below. The litigations range from individual actions involving a single plaintiff to class action lawsuits with potentially millions of class members. Investigations and regulatory enforcement matters involve both formal and informal proceedings, by both governmental agencies and self-regulatory organizations. These legal proceedings are at varying stages of adjudication, arbitration or investigation, and involve each of the Firm’s lines of business and several geographies and a wide variety of claims (including common law tort and contract claims and statutory antitrust, securities and consumer protection claims), some of which present novel legal theories.

The Firm believes the estimate of the aggregate range of reasonably possible losses, in excess of reserves established, for its legal proceedings is from $0 to approximately $1.7 billion at September 30, 2024. This estimated aggregate range of reasonably possible losses was based upon information available as of that date for those proceedings in which the Firm believes that an estimate of reasonably possible loss can be made. For certain matters, the Firm does not believe that such an estimate can be made, as of that date. The Firm’s estimate of the aggregate range of reasonably possible losses involves significant judgment, given:

•the number, variety and varying stages of the proceedings, including the fact that many are in preliminary stages,

•the existence in many such proceedings of multiple defendants, including the Firm, whose share of liability (if any) has yet to be determined,

•the numerous yet-unresolved issues in many of the proceedings, including issues regarding class certification and the scope of many of the claims, and

•the uncertainty of the various potential outcomes of such proceedings, including where the Firm has made assumptions concerning future rulings by the court or other adjudicator, or about the behavior or incentives of adverse parties or regulatory authorities, and those assumptions prove to be incorrect.

In addition, the outcome of a particular proceeding may be a result which the Firm did not take into account in its estimate because the Firm had deemed the likelihood of that outcome to be remote. Accordingly, the Firm’s estimate of the aggregate range of reasonably possible losses will change from time to time, and actual losses may vary significantly.

Set forth below are descriptions of the Firm’s material legal proceedings.

1MDB Litigation. J.P. Morgan (Suisse) SA was named as a defendant in a civil litigation filed in May 2021 in Malaysia by 1Malaysia Development Berhad (“1MDB”), a Malaysian state-owned and controlled investment fund. The claim alleges “dishonest assistance” against J.P. Morgan (Suisse) SA in relation to payments of $300 million and $500 million, from 2009 and 2010, respectively, received from 1MDB and paid into an account at J.P. Morgan (Suisse) SA held by 1MDB PetroSaudi Limited, a joint venture company between 1MDB and PetroSaudi Holdings (Cayman) Limited. In March 2024, the Court upheld the Firm's challenge to the validity of service and the Malaysian Court’s jurisdiction to hear the claim. That decision has been appealed by 1MDB. In August 2023, the Court denied an application by 1MDB to discontinue its claim with permission to re-file a new claim in the future. That decision was appealed by both 1MDB and the Firm, and an appeals court is scheduled to hear both appeals in December 2024. In its appeal, the Firm seeks to prevent any claim from continuing.

In addition, in November 2023, the Federal Office of the Attorney General (OAG) in Switzerland notified J.P. Morgan (Suisse) SA that it is conducting an investigation into possible criminal liability in connection with transactions arising from J.P. Morgan (Suisse) SA’s relationship with the 1MDB PetroSaudi joint venture and its related persons for the period September 2009 through August 2015. The OAG investigation is ongoing.

Amrapali. India’s Enforcement Directorate (“ED”) is investigating J.P. Morgan India Private Limited in connection with investments made in 2010 and 2012 by two offshore funds formerly managed by JPMorgan Chase entities into residential housing projects developed by the Amrapali Group (“Amrapali”) relating to delays in delivering or failure to deliver residential units. In August 2021, the ED issued an order fining J.P. Morgan India Private Limited approximately $31.5 million, and the Firm is appealing that order. Relatedly, in July 2019, the Supreme Court of India issued an order making preliminary findings that Amrapali and other parties, including unspecified JPMorgan Chase entities and the offshore funds that had invested in the projects, violated certain criminal currency control and money laundering provisions, and ordered the ED to conduct a further inquiry. The Firm is responding to and cooperating with the inquiry.

Foreign Exchange Investigations and Litigation. The Firm previously reported settlements with certain government authorities relating to its foreign exchange (“FX”) sales and trading activities and controls related to those activities. Among those resolutions, in May 2015, the Firm pleaded guilty to a single violation of federal antitrust law. The Department of Labor ("DOL") granted the Firm exemptions

that permit the Firm and its affiliates to continue to rely on the Qualified Professional Asset Manager exemption under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) through the ten-year disqualification period following the antitrust plea. The only remaining FX-related governmental inquiry is a South Africa Competition Commission matter which is currently pending before the South Africa Competition Tribunal.

With respect to civil litigation matters, some FX-related individual and putative class actions filed outside the U.S., including in the U.K., Israel, the Netherlands, Brazil and Australia remain. In July 2023, the U.K. Court of Appeal overturned the Competition Appeal Tribunal's earlier denial of a request for class certification on an opt-out basis. In Israel, a settlement in principle has been reached on the putative class action, which remains subject to court approval.

Government Inquiries Related to the Zelle Network. The Firm is responding to inquiries from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regarding the transfers of funds through the Zelle Network. In connection with this, the CFPB Staff has informed the Firm that it is authorized to pursue a resolution of the inquiries or file an enforcement action. The Firm is evaluating next steps, including litigation.

Interchange Litigation. Groups of merchants and retail associations filed a series of class action complaints alleging that Visa and Mastercard, as well as certain banks, conspired to set the price of credit and debit card interchange fees and enacted related rules in violation of antitrust laws.

In September 2018, the parties settled the class action seeking monetary relief, with the defendants collectively contributing approximately $6.2 billion. The settlement has been approved by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York and affirmed on appeal. Based on the percentage of merchants that opted out of the settlement, $700 million has been returned to the defendants from the settlement escrow. A separate class action seeking injunctive relief continues, and in September 2021, the District Court granted plaintiffs’ motion for class certification in part, and denied the motion in part. In June 2024, the District Court denied preliminary approval of a settlement of the injunctive class action in which Visa and Mastercard agreed to certain changes to their respective network rules and system-wide reductions in interchange rates for U.S.-based merchants. The parties are considering next steps.

Of the merchants who opted out of the damages class settlement, certain merchants filed individual actions raising similar allegations against Visa and Mastercard, as well as against the Firm and other banks. While some of those actions remain pending, the defendants have reached settlements with the merchants who opted out representing over 70% of the combined Mastercard-branded and Visa-branded payment card sales volume.

LIBOR and Other Benchmark Rate Investigations and Litigation. JPMorgan Chase has responded to inquiries from various governmental agencies and entities around the world relating primarily to the British Bankers Association’s (“BBA”) London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) for various currencies and the European Banking Federation’s Euro Interbank Offered Rate (“EURIBOR”). The Swiss Competition Commission’s investigation relating to EURIBOR, to which the Firm and one other bank remain subject, continues. The Firm appealed a December 2016 decision by the European Commission against the Firm and other banks finding an infringement of European antitrust rules relating to EURIBOR. In December 2023, the European General Court annulled the fine imposed by the European Commission, but exercised its discretion to re-impose a fine in an identical amount. In March 2024, the Firm filed an appeal of this decision with the Court of Justice of the European Union.

In addition, the Firm has been named as a defendant along with other banks in various individual and putative class actions related to benchmark rates, including U.S. dollar LIBOR. In actions related to U.S. dollar LIBOR during the period that it was administered by the BBA, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted class certification of antitrust claims related to bonds and interest rate swaps sold directly by the defendants, including the Firm. The Firm has obtained dismissal of certain actions and resolved certain other actions, and as to all remaining actions has moved for summary judgment. In addition, a lawsuit filed by a group of individual plaintiffs asserting antitrust claims, alleging that the Firm and other defendants were engaged in an unlawful agreement to set U.S. dollar LIBOR and conspired to monopolize the market for LIBOR-based consumer loans and credit cards was dismissed in October 2023. Plaintiffs' appeal of the dismissal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit filed in November 2023 remains pending. The Firm has resolved all non-U.S. dollar LIBOR actions.

Russian Litigation. The Firm is obligated to comply with international sanctions laws, which mandate the blocking of certain assets. These laws apply when assets associated with individuals, companies, products or services are within the scope of the sanctions. The Firm has faced actual and threatened litigation in Russia seeking payments that the Firm cannot make under, and is contractually excused from paying as a result of, relevant sanctions laws. In claims involving the Firm and claims filed against other financial institutions, Russian courts have disregarded the parties’ contractual agreements concerning forum selection and did not recognize foreign sanctions laws as a basis for not making payment. Russian courts have entered judgment against the Firm in five claims, including one for $439 million. The total amount of the judgments exceeds the total amount of available assets that the Firm holds in Russia. One judgment in the amount of $14 million was executed in July 2024 against assets held onshore by the Firm in Russia. The Firm continues to appeal the Russian

courts' decisions, and judgments may not be executed while on appeal. Russian courts have also ordered interim freezes of Firm assets in Russia (including, among other things, funds in bank accounts, securities, shares in authorized capital, and certain trademarks, of the named defendants) pending a determination of certain underlying claims against the Firm. The Firm has challenged the freeze orders in the Russian courts and, in one claim, also in a New York federal court action, in response to which a Russian court then issued an order instructing the Firm to discontinue that New York action. If further claims are enforced despite the actions taken by the Firm to challenge the claims and orders and to seek the proper application of law, the Firm’s assets in Russia could be seized in full, and certain client assets could also be seized, or the Firm could be prevented from complying with its obligations.

SEC Inquiries. The Firm is responding to requests from the SEC regarding aspects of certain advisory programs within J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, including aggregation of accounts for billing, discounting advisory fees, and selecting portfolio managers. Separately, the Firm is responding to requests from the SEC in connection with the timing of the Firm’s liquidation of shares distributed in-kind to certain investment vehicles that invest in third-party managed private funds. The Firm continues to cooperate and is currently engaged in advanced resolution discussions with the SEC with respect to most matters. There is no assurance that such discussions will result in resolutions.

Securities Lending Antitrust Litigation. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, J.P. Morgan Prime, Inc., and J.P. Morgan Strategic Securities Lending Corp. are named as defendants in a putative class action filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaint asserts violations of federal antitrust law and New York State common law in connection with an alleged conspiracy to prevent the emergence of anonymous exchange trading for securities lending transactions. The court has granted final approval of the settlement in this action.

Shareholder Litigation. Several shareholder putative class actions, as well as shareholder derivative actions purporting to act on behalf of the Firm, have been filed against the Firm, its Board of Directors and certain of its current and former officers.

Certain of these shareholder suits relate to historical trading practices by former employees in the precious metals and U.S. treasuries markets and related conduct which were the subject of the Firm’s resolutions with the DOJ, CFTC and SEC in September 2020, and fiduciary activities that were separately the subject of a resolution between JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and the OCC in November 2020. One of these shareholder derivative suits was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in May 2022, asserting breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment claims relating to the historical trading practices and related conduct and fiduciary activities which were the subject of the resolutions described above. In

December 2022, the court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss this action in full, and in July 2023, the plaintiff filed an appeal, which remains pending.

A second shareholder derivative action relating to the historical trading practices and related conduct was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in December 2022. Defendants have moved to dismiss the complaint.

Trading Venues Investigations. The Firm responded to government inquiries regarding its processes to inventory trading venues and confirm the completeness of certain data fed to trade surveillance platforms. The Firm self-identified that certain trading and order data through the CIB was not feeding into its trade surveillance platforms. The Firm entered into resolutions with the OCC and the Board of Governors of the FRB in March 2024 and with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in May 2024. The resolutions required the Firm to, among other things, pay aggregate civil penalties of $450 million, which the Firm has paid, and to complete the Firm’s ongoing remediation. The Firm also engaged an independent compliance consultant, which completed an assessment of the Firm's trade surveillance program as required by the resolutions. The Firm does not expect any disruption of service to clients as a result of these resolutions.

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In addition to the various legal proceedings discussed above, JPMorgan Chase and its subsidiaries are named as defendants or are otherwise involved in a substantial number of other legal proceedings. The Firm believes it has meritorious defenses to the claims asserted against it in its currently outstanding legal proceedings and it intends to defend itself vigorously. Additional legal proceedings may be initiated from time to time in the future.

The Firm has established reserves for several hundred of its currently outstanding legal proceedings. In accordance with the provisions of U.S. GAAP for contingencies, the Firm accrues for a litigation-related liability when it is probable that such a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. The Firm evaluates its outstanding legal proceedings each quarter to assess its litigation reserves, and makes adjustments in such reserves, upward or downward, as appropriate, based on management’s best judgment after consultation with counsel. The Firm’s legal expense was $259 million and $665 million for the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively. There is no assurance that the Firm’s litigation reserves will not need to be adjusted in the future.

In view of the inherent difficulty of predicting the outcome of legal proceedings, particularly where the claimants seek very large or indeterminate damages, or where the matters present novel legal theories, involve a large number of parties or are in early stages of discovery, the Firm cannot state with confidence what will be the eventual outcomes of the currently pending matters, the timing of their ultimate

resolution or the eventual losses, fines, penalties or consequences related to those matters. JPMorgan Chase believes, based upon its current knowledge and after consultation with counsel, consideration of the material legal proceedings described above and after taking into account its current litigation reserves and its estimated aggregate range of possible losses, that the other legal proceedings currently pending against it should not have a material adverse effect on the Firm’s consolidated financial condition. The Firm notes, however, that in light of the uncertainties involved in such proceedings, there is no assurance that the ultimate resolution of these matters will not significantly exceed the reserves it has currently accrued or that a matter will not have material reputational consequences. As a result, the outcome of a particular matter may be material to JPMorgan Chase’s operating results for a particular period, depending on, among other factors, the size of the loss or liability imposed and the level of JPMorgan Chase’s income for that period.