JPMorgan to pay record $18M for violating SEC whistleblower rule

A subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase will pay an $18 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly violating the agency’s whistleblower protection rule in hundreds of settlement agreements with clients and customers.

From 2020-23, J.P. Morgan Securities required 362 clients receiving settlements or credits worth between $1,000 and $165,000 to sign confidentiality agreements containing language prohibiting them from affirmatively reporting any related misconduct by the bank to government or regulatory agencies, the SEC alleged.

The agreements prohibited the sharing of any information about the settlement and its underlying facts and all information regarding the account at issue, the SEC said.