Finance

JPMorgan Wins Ruling That Leveraged Loans Are Not Securities

  • Investors sued bank over $1.8 billion syndicated loan notes
  • Appeals court decision is victory for banks, private equity
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JPMorgan Chase & Co. won a federal appeals court ruling that a $1.8 billion leveraged loan at issue in a court case was not a security, a victory for the banking and private equity industries.

The decision Thursday by the Second Circuit US Court of Appeals in Manhattan came in a securities fraud lawsuit brought by a trustee for note purchasers in a 2014 syndicated loan deal led by JPMorgan. Soon after the notes began trading, the borrower, drug-testing company Millennium Health, ran into legal troubles and filed for bankruptcy the next year.