JPMorgan sued for $95 mn

JPMorgan Chase & Co has been sued for $95 million by the trustee for securities marketed in 2005 by the former Bear Stearns Cos over alleged misrepresentations regarding the underlying mortgage loans.

US Bank NA wants to force JPMorgan to buy back the mortgage loans because of alleged breaches of representations and warranties regarding the Bear Stearns Asset Backed Securities Trust 2005-4, for which it serves as a trustee.

It also accused the largest US bank by assets of refusing to provide the underlying loan files, as the trust documents require, so it can investigate the extent of the alleged breaches.

The unit of US Bancorp said it made its request at the direction of a majority certificate-holder in the trust. US Bank also sued Bear Stearns and its former EMC mortgage corp unit. JPMorgan bought Bear Stearns in 2008.

JPMorgan spokeswoman Jennifer Zuccarelli declined to comment. The lawsuit was filed on Friday in the New York state Supreme Court in Manhattan, and publicly docketed on Tuesday.

It is one of the many lawsuits seeking to hold banks responsible for investor losses over mortgages that may have been toxic, defective or improperly underwritten.

JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon last month told investors that the bank has been sued over $54.9 billion of private-label securitisations, excluding the former Washington Mutual Inc, and expects that number to rise.

"We think the disclosures are clear, risks were plain and set forth," he said. "Investors, mostly sophisticated, they understood and accepted it."