Legal
JPMorgan Gold Desk ‘Spoofing’ Cheated Market, Ex-Trader Says
- Traders did ‘whatever it takes to make money,’ jury told
- Three ex-precious metals employees on trial for fraud
Michael Nowak, former head of precious-metals trading for JPMorgan Chase & Co., center, arrives at federal court in Chicago on July 8.
Photographer: Cheney Orr/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s gold trading and sales team was so focused on making money that they scammed the market for years with so-called spoofing trades, according to a former colleague who testified at the trial of three former bank employees charged with fraud.
“Our job was to do whatever it takes to make money,” and using spoof trades to manipulate prices for all sorts of precious metals was an almost daily method for generating profit, said John Edmonds, who worked as a trader at the bank until 2017. “Everyone at the time did it on the desk and it worked.”