New York (AFP)

US bank JPMorgan Chase on Tuesday agreed to pay $ 920 million for manipulating prices in the precious metals and treasury bill markets, the biggest financial penalty ever imposed in such a case.

The deal clears lawsuits brought by the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the U.S. stock and commodity markets gendarmes, the SEC and CFTC, regulators said in separate statements.

They accuse traders in the bank, including department heads, of manipulating the prices of gold, silver, platinum and palladium as well as those of treasury bills for at least eight years, by placing tens of thousands of orders that they did not intend to complete, a practice known in English as "spoofing".

They thus gave other market players an erroneous picture of the real supply and demand on the market and took the opportunity to make money or avoid losses.

The incriminated facts ran from 2008 to 2016 in the New York, London and Singapore offices of the establishment, the leading American bank in terms of assets.

The authorities also accuse JPMorgan of not having acted adequately to put an end to these practices "despite numerous warning signs", notes a statement from the CFTC.

According to this agency, the fine received by the bank is the largest ever imposed in a case of "spoofing".

It includes damages paid to victims and reimbursement of gains made by JPMorgan through these fraudulent practices.

- 'Severity of infringements' -

Its importance "reflects the nature and seriousness of the bank's breaches and represents an important step in the ministry's continued efforts to ensure the integrity of public procurement, essential to our financial system," commented an official from the Ministry of Justice. in the press release.

The sentence is also severe because JPMorgan had already admitted in 2015 to have engaged in manipulative and deceptive commercial practices in the foreign exchange market, adds the ministry.

The practice of "spoofing" is "purely and simply illegal", underlined for his part the president of the CFTC Heath Tarbert.

The amount of the fine shows, according to him, that his agency is ready "to be tough on those who willfully break the rules, no matter who they are."

The authorities acknowledge, however, that the bank headed by Jamie Dimon cooperated in their investigations and devoted significant resources to preventing such practices from recurring.

The Ministry considered in this regard that it was not necessary to impose a control of the firm by an independent auditor.

JPMorgan Chase had previously warned in official documents that it was collaborating with investigations in the United States into its brokerage practices in the markets of metals and financial instruments such as T-bills, and that it was in discussions with authorities to end it.

It believes that the agreement should not disrupt the services offered to its customers.

The conduct of those accused is "unacceptable", reacted Tuesday the boss of the investment banking division Daniel Pinto, specifying that they were no longer part of the company.

Two traders have pleaded guilty and lawsuits are still pending against four other bank employees.

The title fell 0.66% at mid-session on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, in a market down slightly.

© 2020 AFP