SEC Drops Claims Against Ex-JPM Traders in London Whale Case

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission dropped claims against two former JPMorgan Chase & Co. traders accused of hiding more than $6.2 billion in trading losses as part of the “London Whale’’ case.

Securities regulators agreed to dismiss their case against traders Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout after federal prosecutors dropped criminal charges against them last month.

Martin-Artajo, who oversaw trading strategy for the synthetic portfolio at the bank’s chief investment office in London, and Grout, a trader who worked for him, were accused of scheming to manipulate loss figures tied to the dealings of Bruno Iksil, fellow JP Morgan trader dubbed the “London Whale’’ over his losses.

The men were accused of intentionally fudging loss figures from Iksil’s portfolio, resulting in JP Morgan making false SEC filings, according to court papers. The flap over the trading miscues forced the bank to restate a quarter’s earnings and pay more than $1 billion in settlements with U.S. and U.K. regulators.

The traders agreed with the SEC to cover their own legal costs related to the case, according to court filings.

The case is Securities and Exchange Commission v. Martin-Artajo et al., No. 13-cv-5677, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan)

To contact the reporter on this story: Jef Feeley in Wilmington, Delaware at jfeeley@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Andrew Martin