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The Manipulation Monitor: A Guide to Financial Market Manipulation Antitrust Litigation

Commentary on Antitrust and Other Competition Law Litigation Relating to the Financial Services Industry.
Posted: February 22, 2021

In re London Silver Fixing, Ltd. Antitrust Litigation — Settlement Update

In In re London Silver Fixing, Ltd. Antitrust Litigation, Nos. 14-MD-02573, 14-MC-02573 (S.D.N.Y.), class plaintiffs have submitted briefing in support of a proposed settlement (the “Settlement”) with various Deutsche Bank-related defendants (“Deutsche Bank”). As reported in previous posts, this litigation concerns allegations that Deutsche Bank and other financial institutions participated in manipulations of “the fix”, a daily benchmarking auction, and...

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Posted in Market Index Manipulation, Financial Competition Litigation, In re: London Silver Fixing Antitrust Litigation
Posted: February 5, 2021

Beyond Finance: Manipulation of the Marketplace of Ideas

In today’s Manipulation Monitor post, we are taking a short break from covering the financial services industry to show that allegations of market manipulation in violation of antitrust law extends not just to the marketplace for notes, futures, options, government-backed bonds, commodities, or other financial products, but to the marketplace of ideas, i.e. social media and microblogging.

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Posted in Financial Competition Litigation, Market Manipulation Lawsuits
Posted: December 16, 2020

VRDO-Bond Price Fixing Claims Survive Motion to Dismiss

This post reports on S.D.N.Y. Judge Jesse M. Furman’s recent decision largely denying a motion to dismiss a proposed class-action complaint alleging a conspiracy to fix interest rates on Variable Rate Demand Obligations (VRDO) bonds. Background As previously described here, the City of Philadelphia filed a proposed class action alleging that a number of major banks had colluded to inflate...

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Posted in Financial Competition Litigation, Government Bond Market Manipulation
Posted: December 10, 2020

Mexican Government Bond Litigation Update: Jurisdictional Issues Result in Dismissal

We write to update you on a recent decision granting motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ Second Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint (“SAC”) for lack of personal jurisdiction and improper venue issued by Judge Oetken on November 30, 2020 in the consolidated actions in the Southern District of New York known as In re Mexican Government Bonds Antitrust Litigation, 18-cv-02830 (In re...

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Posted in Government Bond Market Manipulation, Market Manipulation Lawsuits
Posted: October 28, 2020

Class Cert Denied in In Re Aluminum Warehousing Antitrust Litigation

In In re Aluminum Warehousing Antitrust Litigation (Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs), No. 14-cv-3116-PAE (S.D.N.Y.), United States District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer denied class certification based on the failure to plaintiffs’ expert to establish the predominance of common issues among the proposed class members regarding antitrust injury.

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Posted in Financial Competition Litigation, In re: Aluminum Warehousing Antitrust Litigation, Antitrust, Class Actions, Market Manipulation Lawsuits
Posted: October 23, 2020

LIBOR Class Action: Settlement Update

Here is an update regarding settlement in In Re: Libor-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation, 11-MD-02262 (“In re Libor“), the Multi-District Litigation in the Southern District of New York relating to relating to manipulation of LIBOR or the London Interbank Offered Rate for the U.S. dollar.

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Posted in Financial Competition Litigation, Antitrust, In re: LIBOR-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation