JP Morgan Chase - Bank of the United States - Essay Example

? JPMorgan Chase This paper aims to provide details about the fraud case of JP Morgan Chase, the biggest bank of United States of America. The role of Security agencies such as SEC and CFTC is discussed in depth along with the description about valid contract, intentional and negligent tort action, fiduciary duty and the software used by banks so as to protect online transactions. JPMorgan Chase Securities and the Banking sectors lay down the foundation of successful economy. These two have to be firmly established so as to achieve the economic goals including better health and educational opportunities, increasing GDP growth rate and overall development of the country from public to private sector organizations and institutions. Securities and Banks are also recognized as the most sensitive economic sectors which are on high risk of gambling due to multiple reasons such as increased internal money supply and violation of laws. Therefore they strongly require protection from agencies, for example, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). These agencies provide protection to Securities or Banks from gambling and fraud subsequently reducing the risk factor attached to them and also analyzes their overall operations and activities. This makes the role of these administrative agencies substantial so as to amplify the economic growth and development. To further explain this lets first consider the example of JP Morgan Chase’s gambling case of summer 2012 (Gordon, 2012). JP Morgan Chase is the leading bank of United States of America; the bank’s Chief Investment Office (CIO) declared a loss of $5.8 in summer 2012. The reasons put forward by the bank were concerning inappropriate investment decisions. In order to conceal the gambling case, the top management provided falsified reports of the year’s first quarter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In this way the massive loss was kept obscure from the observations of SEC. Chairman of the bank, Gray Gensler, while reporting to CFTC declined to give concrete reasons for the great loss and ended up saying that the loss was associated with the credit derivative products when traded by means of the Chief Investment Office. On the other hand Chief Investment Officer, Ina Drew, watched over the responsibility of loss to the trading group. He left the bank soon after this event occurred. SEC along with FBI investigated the trading loss at the biggest bank of US with respect to assets (Gordon, 2012). Elements of a Valid Contract Contract is broadly defined as an official agreement between two parties which is then used by the court in order to make judgments. Generally contracts need to follow certain requirements so as to acquire validity and authenticity only after which they can be used by the court. Following are the main components of a Valid Contract (Laurence, 2013): Offer: It is the initial most element of a contract. It is basically a form of promise between two parties which then transforms into an official contract. Acceptance: Offer is subsequently followed by an acceptance from another party to whom the offer is made. The acceptance of an offer indicates that the other party has approved all the rules and regulations presented in an offer. Consideration: One the offer is accepted then an exchange takes place between the two parties through consideration. In this case the other person gives something to the first person so as to verify the contract. Creating Legal Relations: Legal relations are created to establish consensus between two parties to legalize the contract so that its authenticity and validity increases. Certainty: It is yet another significant element of a valid contract which deems the rules and regulations stated in the contract. These should be clearly understood by both the parties. It includes details such as the time period of a particular contract. Capacity: Capacity defines the pre-requisites of entering into a contract. For instance, people under the age of 18 cannot make legally valid contracts. If all of these elements are present in a contract then it can be categorized as a Valid Contract. It is the primary responsibility of consumers and banks to develop good faith and fair dealings so as to maintain a healthy banking relationship. This is closely affiliated with the elements of Valid Contract since the consumers and banks are in a relationship with one another through signing a legally valid contract which requires them to make a mutual agreement in which the offer is generally given by the bank which is then accepted by the consumers after strictly evaluating the terms and conditions. In addition to this they both exchange something with one another, for instance, cash and services. The banking relationship requires good faith and fair dealings between the two parties in order to achieve mutual goals and also to maintain ethically sound business status. Intentional and negligent tort actions The intentional and negligent tort actions greatly differ from one another on the following basis (Intentional Versus Negligent Conduct, 2013): Intentional conduct revolves around the intentions of the wrongdoer. It is a conscious action which is often planned. It does not show up proximate causes rather the actual reason behind the action is clearly identifiable. For instance, banks might charge its customers for services they haven’t rendered also the fraud that is intentionally done for the sake of personal benefits such as the one of JP Morgan Chase. Contrary to this, negligent tort actions are based upon unconscious and unplanned actions. There appear multiple causes for such actions which are then investigated so as to find the actual reason behind the wrong act. For instance, bank has customers out of its limit due to which it is unable to cater all of theirs’ needs i.e. involving into multiple activities and consequently none of them are performed well. Interference with contractual relations Following are the most significant elements of the tort action of interference with contractual relations (California Civil Jury Instructions (CACI), 2013): There must be a valid contract between the third party and plaintiff in order to state the reasons of actions for interference with contractual relations. Subsequently the defendant must be aware of this contract, its rules and regulations. The intentional act of the defendant’s so as to persuade a violation or interruption of the contractual relationship. There should be a genuine violation or interruption of the contractual relationship. Details of the damage as a consequence Breach of Fiduciary duty In legal terms, fiduciary duty is solely a legal responsibility of fiduciaries to act in other party’s interest. People against whom these fiduciaries are obliged known as principals. Fiduciaries cannot generate profits from the association with principals until and unless they have acquired their principal’s legal consent. Additionally, they are responsible to resolve conflicts which might occur between the two associated parties (Fiduciary Duty, 2013). Banks are required to abide themselves by the rules of fiduciary duty, however, if they fail to do so then SEC or CFTC might take legal action against them. JP Morgan Chase’s example quoted earlier in the paper is the perfect example to illustrate this phenomenon. If the bank that I have chosen for my financial transactions behave similarly to JP Morgan Chase then I wouldn’t be able to prevail in such a tort action because breach of fiduciary duty destroys the relationship between customer and bank which is initially based upon good faith and fair dealing. Subsequently financial transactions cannot be made under civil wrong. Protection of online transactions Mobile banking has given rise to online transactions which are done through automation. These transactions have great risk attached to them and therefore they are protected by software. Majority of the online transactions are prevented from potential frauds through the Security Protocol SSL i.e. Secure Sockets Layer. SSL is capable of providing protection based on sound privacy through encrypting the conduit of communication between the bank and its customers. The job is done by means of a mathematical formula which subsequently transforms the information into a composite code and consequently protects the data from illegal or unauthorized use (Online Transaction Safety, 2013). References California Civil Jury Instructions (CACI). (2013). Retrieved Feb 27, 2013, from Justia.com. Fiduciary Duty. (2013). Retrieved Feb 27, 2013, from Legal Information Institute. Gordon, M. (2012, May 21). CFTC To Investigate JPMorgan Chase Trading Loss. HUFF Post. Intentional Versus Negligent Conduct. (2013). Retrieved Feb 27, 2013, from American Speech Language Hearing Association. Laurence, B. (2013). Contracts 101: Make a Legally Valid Contract. Retrieved Feb 27, 2013, from NOLO: Law for all. Online Transaction Safety. (2013). Retrieved Feb 27, 2013, from VISA. Read More