On Monday, Singapore’s central bank announced that it imposed a fine of S$2.4 million (approximately $1.79 million) on U.S. lender JPMorgan Chase. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) stated that JPMorgan’s relationship managers failed to prevent and detect misconduct.
The MAS found that the relationship managers provided inaccurate or incomplete information to clients in 24 instances involving over-the-counter bond transactions. As a result, they charged clients spreads that exceeded the agreed-upon rates.
MAS stated that JPMorgan Chase lacked sufficient processes and controls to ensure that relationship managers followed the pre-agreed spreads with clients.
The central bank mentioned that the bank acknowledged its responsibility for failing to prevent or detect the misconduct and has paid a civil penalty to MAS.
Additionally, the bank refunded the overcharged fees to the clients affected by this issue. MAS reported that JPMorgan Chase has also improved its pricing frameworks and internal controls to avoid similar misconduct in the future.
JPMorgan Chase expressed satisfaction in a statement that the matter had been resolved. They noted that it “represents a very small portion of the total trades processed during the related period.”
In 2020, JPMorgan Private Bank completed its internal review. Following that, the bank implemented a comprehensive update to its internal controls, monitoring, and training framework to ensure it upholds trade governance, pricing transparency, and compliance principles.
MAS stated that it is examining the actions of the individual relationship managers. This investigation focuses on their involvement in the misconduct.
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