Spain court refuses to extradite 'London whale' boss

A Spanish court has rejected US demands to extradite a former JPMorgan Chase banker accused of wire fraud in connection with the "London whale" trading scandal

Spain's national court in Madrid ruled that US authorities had no jurisdiction over the former managing director, Javier Martin-Artajo, a Spanish national. He stands accused of helping to hide hundreds of millions of dollars in trading losses and was arrested by the Spanish authorities in August 2013, in response to a request from US authorities.

Mr Martin-Artago was the boss of Bruno Iksil, the trader dubbed the "London whale" when JPMorgan lost $6bn on his derivative positions.

He refused to be extradited, however, arguing - among other things - that his actions took place only in London, and he should therefore not be subject to US legal action.

In a 38-page ruling released on Thursday, the court sided with Mr Martin-Artejo, stating that there was no legal basis for extraditing a Spanish citizen to the US for alleged wrongdoing committed in the UK. The ruling added, however, that the US authorities could seek to build a legal case against the former banker in front of a Spanish court.

Spain, like most European nations, usually refuses to extradite its own citizens. The country's stance offers a striking contrast with the approach taken by UK authorities in several high-profile cases in recent years, in which UK citizens have been handed over to the US for trial.

The JPMorgan Chase case was seen as problematic not least because Mr Iksil was given an immunity deal by US prosecutors.

The latest clash over extraditions to the US occurred this week, when a London-based day trader accused of contributing to the 2010 "flash crash" appeared in court to resist being handed over for trial in the US state of Illinois.

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