JPMorgan、事務ミスで15億ドルの担保付債権が無担保に（CFOより）

Paperwork Error on $1.5B Secured Loan Costly for JPMorgan

JPMorgan Chase銀行が、パラリーガルの事務ミスにより、ＧＭ向けの担保付貸付金15億ドルの担保を間違って外してしまったという記事。2009年のＧＭの破たんの際に発見され、裁判で他の債権者との争いになっていましたが、JPMorgan Chase側が負けたそうです。

The paperwork error, which unsecured a secured loan to General Motors, wasn't spotted until GM filed for bankruptcy in 2009.

JPMorgan Chase has to live with a paralegal’s mistake that unsecured a $1.5 billion loan made to General Motors, putting the bank in the same boat as other unsecured GM creditors in GM’s 2009 bankruptcy, a federal appeals court has ruled.

JPMorganは、その意図がなかったにもかかわらず、判決では、同銀行は米国統一商法典上のTERMINATION STATEMENTの提出を承認したとされました。

Although JPMorgan never intended to authorize the termination of its security interest in the loan, it “authorized the filing of a [Uniform Commercial Code] termination statement that had that effect,” the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday in a decision that is a victory for unsecured GM creditors who argued that the loan should not be ranked as a secured debt in GM’s bankruptcy.

ＧＭの顧問法律事務所Mayer Brownが、termination statementを提出することを銀行は知っており、その提出に承諾を与えたと裁判所は認定しました。

The bank knew GM’s law firm, Mayer Brown, was going to file a termination statement and “reviewed and assented to the filing of that statement,” the court ruled. “Nothing more is needed.”

このミスは、2008年に（ＧＭ側の法律事務所である）Mayer Brownが、職員に対して、ＧＭが返済しようとしていた債務について、担保権を外すための文書の作成を指示したときにはじまります。

According to the appellate opinion, the snafu began in 2008 when a partner at Mayer Brown instructed an associate to draft documents to release the security interest of JPMorgan and other lenders in $300 million in financing that GM was paying off. One of the steps was to identify other security interests held by GM lenders as collateral that would need to be terminated.

その際に、このパラリーガルが15億ドルの担保付貸付金を間違って、含めてしまいました。

The paralegal researched UCC financing statements recorded against GM in Delaware, mistakenly including the secured $1.5 billion term loan.

GM、Mayer Brown、JPMorgan、その顧問弁護士事務所であるSimpson Thacher & Bartlett LLPのだれも、このエラーに気づきませんでした。チェックリストやtermination statementsのドラフトが、各組織の各担当者に送付されていたにもかかわらず、です。

“No one at General Motors, Mayer Brown, JPMorgan, or its counsel, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, noticed the error, even though copies of the closing checklist and draft UCC‐3 termination statements were sent to individuals at each organization for review,” the 2nd Circuit noted.

事務ミスの歴史（そういうのがあるのかどうか知りませんが）に記録されそうなミスです。

GM Creditors Win Challenge to $1.5 Billion Loan（WSJ）（記事冒頭のみ）