JPMorgan Is Thrust Into Middle of Venezuela's Debt Dispute

JPMorgan Chase & Co. suddenly finds itself caught in the middle of the struggle for power in Venezuela. The dilemma surrounds the bank’s bond indexes, long the industry standard for gauging emerging-market performance. After the U.S. slapped sweeping sanctions on Nicolas Maduro’s regime last week, trading in the nation’s defaulted debt grounded to a halt -- a development that typically would prompt JPMorgan to yank the notes from its indexes.

But bondholders as well as some Venezuelan politicians aligned with Juan Guaido, the U.S.-backed lawmaker trying to oust Maduro, are now actively lobbying to get JPMorgan to keep the debt in the index.