Chase, Wells Fargo Lose Bid to Combine PPP Agent Fee Suits

JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and small accounting firms lost an effort to consolidate dozens of lawsuits filed across the country claiming that the banks and other lenders withheld fees owed to agents who helped small businesses obtain federal relief loans.

An administrative panel ruled Wednesday not to centralize the cases. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation said in its order that although the legal questions were similar in each case, the facts and practices were unique to each lender. The order also noted that many of the lenders were named in a single case.

• The panel also declined ...