A New Jersey state judge has denied JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other banks' bid to toss a suit accusing them of a scheme to inflate the interest rates of certain bonds, ruling that a recent change to state law bars the court from dismissing the action.
New York Principal Dan Levy's client, Edelweiss Fund LLC, launched the current action in 2015 on behalf of the state of New Jersey. The firm, a registered municipal adviser that brought the suit as a qui tam whistleblower claim, alleges the banks "mechanically set the rates en masse without any consideration of the individual characteristics of the bonds or the associated market conditions."
The banks sought to dismiss the case, but a recent amendment to New Jersey's False Claims Act blocks the dismissal bid, Judge Hurd noted Tuesday in his oral ruling.
Read Law360's report here.