Philadelphia Sues Seven Banks Over ‘Collusion’ in Muni Deals (1)

Philadelphia sued seven banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp., accusing them of costing local governments billions of dollars by colluding to fix the prices on floating-rate bonds issued to finance public works.

The city alleges the banks conspired to inflate the interest rates on the bonds from as early as 2008, according to a class action filed in federal court in Manhattan on Feb. 20. According to the complaint, the Justice Department opened a preliminary criminal investigation into the banks’ practices after meetings with a whistle-blower in 2015 and 2016. The Securities and Exchange Commission ...