Commodity merchant Louis Dreyfus Energy Services may have manipulated North Dakota power markets four years ago, U.S. regulators said on Monday. In the latest example of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's crack-down on power market players, the agency's enforcement arm said it has made a preliminary determination that the firm had violated rules on market manipulation.At the time, the unit was part of a joint-venture between privately held trader Louis Dreyfus and JPMorgan Chase & Co hedge fund Highbridge.The firm had placed "virtual trades in MISO at a node in North Dakota to affect the value of its nearby Financial Transmission Rights (FTRs) during the period November 2009 to February 2010," it said, referring to the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) that runs the power grid in the region.No further details of the trading activity were available.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMorgan Chase) is a financial holding company. Shares of JPM traded higher by 0.58% or $0.34/share to $59.00. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $44.96 and as high as $58.95. On average, 18199900 shares of JPM exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 17550716.
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