Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan have both agreed to settle claims made against them in light of the Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse matter. Deutsche Bank has agreed to make available $75 million to eligible survivors. JP Morgan recently agreed to offer survivors $290 million to settle class action claims.
Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, was a JPMorgan client from 1998 to 2013 and was kept on even after being arrested in 2006 on prostitution-related charges and pleading guilty two years later.
Eligible applicants are persons who were abused or trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and/or his associates during the period between January 1, 1998, and August 10, 2019.
Final Court approval of the proposed settlements has not yet been granted and time limits for the submission of applications have not yet been established.
The Financial Times is reporting that other financial institutions have been put on notice by the Epstein settlements. They may be held liable for the criminal behavior of their clients in the future. According to the Times, ‘Tens of millions of dollars from Epstein’s estate have already been awarded to women who said they were abused by the financier, whose death in jail in 2019 was ruled a suicide. But such settlements have not drawn a line under the fallout over the late sex offender’s crimes, from Wall Street titans who were forced out over their ties with him, to litigation against the banks where he had accounts. Hours before a $290mn settlement was reached with JPMorgan last week, Judge Jed Rakoff certified a class of dozens of women seeking to sue JPMorgan. It was the first time a class action was approved for sex-trafficking victims under a US law known as the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. The law, first passed in 2000, was updated to allow victims to sue those who benefit financially ‘from participation in a [human trafficking] venture’. Plaintiffs were also able to circumnavigate the statute of limitations for negligence claims under a New York law that has temporarily allowed victims of sex crimes to revive time-barred claims.”
If you or a loved one have been sexually abused as a child or adult, please contact us for a free initial consultation.
