JPMorgan, Bank of America Accused of Short-Term Loan Rate-Fixing

JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., and other big banks were sued in federal court by plaintiffs who say the financial institutions colluded to fix interest rates on millions of consumer and small-business loans.

The plaintiffs, residents of California and Colorado, allege that the banks have colluded since at least 2021 to fix and inflate “prime rates” charged to their most creditworthy customers for short-term loans, according to a proposed class action filed Thursday in the US District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Other defendant banks include Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc., US Bancorp, PNC Financial Services Group Inc., and Truist Bank Inc.

The banks allegedly colluded by setting prime rates at 300 basis points above the federal funds rate, the baseline rate set by the Federal Reserve, the complaint says.

The rates are published by The Wall Street Journal as the Journal’s Prime Rate, which governs the interest rates most consumers pay on their credit cards and home equity loans.

“In a competitive market, charging supracompetitive prices is untenable because customers migrate to banks offering better rates,” the plaintiffs say. “Major banks can charge supracompetitive rates only when they collude to maintain those rates.”

JPMorgan and Bank of America didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The plaintiffs seek to represent a class defined as all persons who made a payment on a WSJ prime-indexed home equity line of credit during any time since Oct. 16, 2021.

They seek relief under Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which prohibits agreements that restrain trade.

The plaintiffs are represented by Scott & Scott Attorneys at Law LLP.

The case is Normandin v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, D. Conn., No. 3:25-cv-01749, 10/16/25.