Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: DOJ asks New York district court to pause discovery in FX antitrust suit, (Feb 19, 2015)
Organizations Mentioned:Augustus International Master Fund, LP | BNP Paribas, SA | Bank of America | Barclays Bank PLC | Citibank, NA | Citigroup | Citigroup, Inc. | Credit Suisse Group AG | Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC | Credit Suisse Securities (USA), LLC | Deutsche Bank AG | Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | HSBC Holdings PLC | JPMorgan Chase | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | Morgan Stanley | Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC | Simmtech Co., Ltd. | U.S. Department of Justice | UBS, AG | Value Recovery Fund LLC
By Dan Selcke, J.D.
The U.S. Department of Justice submitted to the federal district court in New York City a letter asking that it halt discovery in an antitrust class action against a number of major banks accused of manipulating prices on the foreign exchange (FX) markets (In re Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation, February 13, 2015).
The underlying antitrust case was brought by a group of investment funds, pension plans, hedge funds, and other entities that bought FX instruments from the defending banks priced at or by the WM/Reuters Closing Spot Rates (the “Fix”) for foreign currencies. The plaintiffs alleged that FX traders from these banks conspired to keep the Fix at artificially high levels by communicating with each other concerning price information, consumer information, and their net trading positions before the Fix was set each day, even though the Fix was supposed to be set according to transactions FX traders made while in constant competition with each other. The plaintiffs alleged that this behavior violated the Sherman Act. A federal district court in New York City has refused to dismiss the claims.
The 12 defending banks were Bank of America Corp., Barclays Bank PLC, BNP Paribas Group, Citigroup, Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., HSBC Holdings PLC, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, and UBS AG, as well as related entities.
On February 11, the DOJ, acting through the Antitrust Division and Fraud Section of the Criminal Division, sent a letter to the court asking for leave to submit, under seal, a filing regarding discovery in the case. The DOJ wanted to be discrete about the filing because it related to the organization’s ongoing, confidential criminal investigation into the foreign exchange markets.
The court granted the request, and on February 13 the DOJ submitted a letter asking that it grant a “limited stay” of discovery in the case for six months.
The case is No. 13-cv-7789 (LGS).
Companies: Value Recovery Fund LLC; Augustus International Master Fund, LP; Simmtech Co., Ltd.; Barclays Bank PLC; Citigroup, Inc.; Citibank, NA; Credit Suisse Group AG; Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC; Deutsche Bank AG; JPMorgan Chase & Co.
News: Antitrust NewYorkNews