Banker sues regulator over being identified as London 'Whale'

Achilles Macris, a former top JPMorgan Chase banker, filed a claim on Monday against the UK's Financial Conduct Authority alleging he was unfairly identified and criticised in settlement papers involving the "London Whale" trading debacle.

Mr Macris ran the London office of the bank's chief investment office and oversaw the bank's synthetic credit portfolio, where trades in credit derivatives ultimately led to $6bn in losses in 2012 and cost the bank more than $1bn in settlements with US and UK authorities.

As part of the multi-agency deal, the FCA levied a fine against JPMorgan for a failure in "skill, care, and diligence, management and control, proper market practice, and disclosure to regulators".

Specifically, the FCA said in its settlement that during a conference call with "CIO London management" last year, the FCA was not told, among other things, that the portfolio was considered to be "in crisis mode".

"As a result the [FCA] has concluded that (by virtue of the conduct of CIO London management)" it "was deliberately misled" by JPMorgan.

Mr Macris was not identified by the FCA by name.

However, his lawyers said in a statement to the Upper Tribunal, an independent UK court, that the findings in the FCA notice "clearly identify and criticise him", in violation of a 2000 law that says administrative agencies are required to give a party the chance to respond to criticisms before they are made public.

Mr Macris was identified in a public report by a US Senate committee investigating JPMorgan's handling of the trading loss. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

His lawyers say the FCA allegations are "factually wrong. Those assertions fail to take proper account of the actions he took and mischaracterise his dealings with the [FCA] at the relevant time".

The FCA declined to comment.

The issue for Mr Macris will be to prove that he was identified, and that the FCA was not referring to other members of the JPMorgan CIO management. If the court sides with Mr Macris a second hearing will determine whether he misled the FCA.

If successful, his lawyers could seek a statement clearing Mr Macris's name or press for the FCA to amend documentation on the JPMorgan settlement. No cases have succeeded in this type of appeal.

Additional reporting by Daniel Schafer in London

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