The New York Times is reporting (via Reuters) that Judge Jed Rakoff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has ruled that an anti-trust action alleging price-fixing of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds can proceed against Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch. Judge... Read more »
Blogs
Posts Categorized: Government Bond Market Manipulation
Lawsuits Filed Over Eurozone Bond Bid-Ask Rigging
On March 22, 2019, the Ohio Carpenters’ Pension Fund filed a proposed antitrust class action in the Southern District of New York. The complaint alleges that Bank of America and NatWest (f/k/a RBS) conspired to rig the bid-ask spreads of Eurozone government bonds between 2007 and 2012. The complaint specifically alleges that the defendants were... Read more »
SOS to GSEs: Your Bonds are A Beautiful Mess
Annnd we’re back. Have you missed the scintillating stories of mischief and manipulation spun by your favourite lawyers-turned-bloggers? If the answer to that isn’t a resounding yes, I’ll just assume you’re new around here. You know what else is new to these parts? Government-Sponsored Enterprises! Yes friends, this is the start of a brand-new miniseries... Read more »
Antitrust Suit Alleges That Major Banks Colluded To Manipulate Prices Of Fannie & Freddie Bonds Between 2009 And 2014
On February 22, 2019, the City of Birmingham’s pension fund and various other benefit funds filed a proposed antitrust class action in the Southern District of New York. The complaint alleges that a number of major banks–Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank, among others–conspired to... Read more »
City of Philadelphia Files Anti-Trust Class Action Arising From Whistleblower Allegations That Banks Fixed VRDO Interest Rates
Last week, the City of Philadelphia filed a proposed antitrust class action in the Southern District of New York. The action alleges that a number of major banks–Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Citibank, Goldman Sachs etc.–conspired to artificially inflate the interest rates for a type of tax-free municipal bonds called Variable Rate Demand Obligations (VRDOs).... Read more »
HSBC Agrees To Settle SSA Bond Manipulation Suit
Law360 and Reuters are reporting that HSBC Bank PLC and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. have agreed to pay $30 million to settle antitrust claims arising from allegations that a number of banks conspired to rig the SSA (Sovereigns, Supranationals, and Agencies) bond market between 2005 and 2015. Deutsche Bank and Bank of America previously settled... Read more »
SSA Swindling? – Part III – Repleading After Dismissal – Is Plaintiffs’ Statistical Analysis Enough to Save Plaintiffs’ Claims?
This week, we return to In re SSA Bonds Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:16-cv-03711-ER (SDNY) (“In re SSA“), an action first introduced in our June 27, 2018, post, which gives a full account of the alleged collusion in the Consolidated Amended Complaint. In this post, we revisit Judge Ramos’ August 24, 2018, Opinion and Order granting... Read more »
Mexican Government Bond Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Part Two
In this post, we follow up on our October 2, 2018, post, which covered arguments made by the Defendants in In re Mexican Government Bonds Antitrust Litigation, 18-cv-02830 (In re MGB) to dismiss Plaintiffs’ Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint (the “Complaint”) concerning whether Plaintiffs made plausible allegations of an antitrust conspiracy and made adequate allegations... Read more »
Mexican Government Bond Defendants Seek Dismissal–Part 1
In this post, we cover a recently filed motion by the defendants in In re Mexican Government Bonds Antitrust Litigation, 18-cv-02830, (In re MGB) to dismiss Plaintiffs’ Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint (the “Complaint”) for failure to state a claim. The motion to dismiss is available here. Certain of the defendants also have filed a... Read more »
SSA Swindling? – Part II – Dismissal With Leave to Replead for Failure to Allege Injury in Fact
This week, we follow last week’s dismissal of In re SSA Bonds Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:16-cv-03711-ER (SDNY) (“In re SSA“), an action first introduced in our June 27, 2018, post, where one can find a full account of the alleged collusion in the Amended Complaint. In this post, we focus on the Defendants’ December 12,... Read more »