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Wagley v. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A.

Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Post Jan. 17, 2012, Unjust Enrichment Claims Survive Dismissal

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MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER In this action, Plaintiffs Mary Frances Wagley, James Wagley, Anne Wagley, and Mary Copp claim that Defendants JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“Chase”), JPMorgan Securities LLC, JPMorgan Investment Management, JPMorgan Distribution Services, Inc., and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (“JPMC,” and together with its affiliates, “JPMorgan”) mismanaged a trust of which they are the beneficiaries. The Amended Complaint alleges breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment. Defendants have moved to dismiss the Amended Complaint. (Dkt. No. 51) For the reasons stated below, Defendants’ motion to dismiss will be granted in part and denied in part. BACKGROUND I. FACTS¹ Plaintiffs are beneficiaries of the Mary Penney Wagley Irrevocable Trust (the “Trust”), which was established in 1934. (Am. Cmplt. (Dkt. No. 21)

1, 18) Defendant Chase administers the Trust as its trustee. (Id. 2) The Amended Complaint alleges that, in an effort “to make up for lost earnings following the 2008-2009 financial crisis,” Chase and its parent company, JPMC, directed its sprawling asset management business to systematically steer the assets of captive clients such as Plaintiffs into unsuitable, self-dealing transactions that enriched JPMorgan to the detriment of [the Trust] and JPMorgan’s fiduciary obligations…. Under [Chase's] failed stewardship, the growth of the [] Trust has consistently lagged far behind the returns achieved by comparable Penney family endowments and widely recognized market benchmarks…. As of the present date, the [] Trust’s underperformance has accumulated into a shortfall of millions of dollars of principal value. (Id.

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