Blogs

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: June 20, 2018

JP Morgan Chase Consents to $65 Million Penalty Relating to ISDAfix Manipulation

On June 18, 2018, the CFTC entered an order requiring JPMorgan Chase to pay a $65 million penalty for attempted manipulation of the ISDAfix benchmark rate. The CFTF order states that the CFTC found that between January 2007 and January 2012, JPMorgan Chase “made false reports and attempted to manipulate the U.S. Dollar International Swaps and Derivatives Association Fix (USD...

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Posted in Financial Competition Litigation, Benchmark Rate Manipulation
Posted: June 17, 2018

Citigroup Agrees to Pay $100 Million to Settle State LIBOR Investigations

Bloomberg reports that Citigroup has agreed to pay $100 million to settle claims by 42 states against it relating to”misrepresent[ing] the integrity of the Libor benchmark to state and local governments, not-for-profit organizations and institutional trading counterparties.” According to Bloomberg, “[t]he settlement agreement quoted extensive electronic and phone communications obtained in the case, including a communication on March 28, 2008,...

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Posted in Financial Competition Litigation, Benchmark Rate Manipulation
Posted: June 6, 2018

Banks Put the “Lie” in LIBOR

There have been at least 76 actions filed across the United States since 2011 relating to manipulation of LIBOR or the London Interbank Offered Rate for the U.S. dollar. Since August 2011, 71 of these actions have been transferred to a Multi-District Litigation in the Southern District of New York: In Re: Libor-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation, 11-MD-02262 (“In re...

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Posted in Financial Competition Litigation, In re: LIBOR-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation, Benchmark Rate Manipulation
Posted: June 1, 2018

Trickery in [High Frequency] Trading

Coming up today on the Manipulation Monitor’s compendium of curious competition cases is an overview of claims of chicanery in the high frequency trading markets. Specifically, this post will provide an overview of five litigations, listed below, all of which concern the operation of stock exchanges and the Barclay’s Liquidity Cross (or “LX”) dark pool, and which have been MDL’d...

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Posted in American European Insurance Company v. Bats Global Markets, Financial Competition Litigation, Flynn et al v. Bank of America Corporation, Great Pacific Securities v. Barclays PLC, In Re: Barclays Liquidity Cross and High Frequency Trading Litigation, High-Frequency Trading
Posted: May 25, 2018

It Doesn’t Actually Take Forever. It Just Feels Like It.

On May 22, 2018, Judge Victor Marrero of the SDNY issued an order winding up In Re: Municipal Derivatives Antitrust Litigation, 1:08-cv-02516-VM-GWG). This multi-district litigation was a 2008 case; the cases that were combined in the multi-district litigation likely were from even earlier. The reasons complex litigations such as these take so long are many and complicated. I leave it...

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Posted in Financial Competition Litigation
Posted: May 17, 2018

Third Mexican Government Bond Manipulation Suit Filed; Plaintiff Moves to Consolidate

In the past two months, three antitrust class actions have been filed alleging the manipulation of the market for Mexican government bonds. Oklahoma Firefighters Pension & Retirement System v. Banco Santander, was filed on March 30, 2018, Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority Pension Plan v. Banco Santander, was filed on May 3, 2018, and Boston Retirement System v....

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Posted in Boston Retirement System v. Banco Santander, Financial Competition Litigation, Government Employees' Retirement System of the Virgin Islands v. Banco Santander, Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority Pension Plan v. Banco Santander, Oklahoma Firefighters Pension & Retirement System v Banco Santander, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority v. Banco Santander, United Food and Commercial Workers Union and Participating Food Industry Employers Tri-State Pension Fund v. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Government Bond Market Manipulation, Market Manipulation Lawsuits
Posted: May 9, 2018

Stock Loan Lowdown

First up on the Manipulation Monitor’s catalog of current and compelling competition law litigation will be issues arising in the stock loan market. This post will examine allegations in two pending actions: Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System et al v. Bank of America Corporation et al., concerning manipulation of the stock loan market, and QS Holdco Inc. v. Bank Of...

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Posted in Financial Competition Litigation, Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System v Bank of America Corporation, QS Holdco Inc. v Bank Of America Corporation, Stock Loans
Posted: May 2, 2018

Goldman Sachs Fined for Forex Practices

The Associated Press reports that Goldman Sachs agreed to pay a fine of over $110 million to settle allegations by the New York State Department of Financial Services and the Federal Reserve Board that its foreign exchange traders “participated in chat rooms, sometimes using code names, to discreetly share confidential customer information with other global bank traders to affect foreign...

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Posted in Financial Competition Litigation, Foreign Exchange Market Manipulation
Posted: May 2, 2018

Welcome to Schlam Stone and Dolan LLP’s Newest Blog, The Manipulation Monitor: A Guide to Financial Market Manipulation Antitrust Litigation

Welcome to Schlam Stone and Dolan LLP’s newest blog, The Manipulation Monitor: A Guide to Financial Market Manipulation Antitrust Litigation. What Will We Be Writing About In the Manipulation Monitor, we will discuss developments in antitrust and other competition law litigation relating to the financial services industry. If you read our Commercial Division Blog (and you should), you know that...

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Posted in Financial Competition Litigation, Fire & Police Pension Association of Colorado v Bank of Montreal, FrontPoint Asian Event Driven Fund v Citibank, In re: Aluminum Warehousing Antitrust Litigation, In Re: Barclays Liquidity Cross and High Frequency Trading Litigation, In re: Credit Default Swaps Antitrust Litigation, In re Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation, In re: Interest Rate Swaps Antitrust Litigation, In re: LIBOR-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation, In re: London Silver Fixing Antitrust Litigation, In re: Platinum and Palladium Antitrust Litigation, In re: Treasury Securities Auction Antitrust Litigation, In re: SSA Bonds Antitrust Litigation, Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System v Bank of America Corporation, Oklahoma Firefighters Pension & Retirement System v Banco Santander, Antitrust Class Actions, Benchmark Rate Manipulation, Commodities Manipulation, Foreign Exchange Market Manipulation, Government Bond Market Manipulation, High-Frequency Trading, Indirect Purchasers, Market Definition, Personal Jurisdiction and Applicability of US Antitrust Laws, Stock Loans, Swap Market Manipulation, Market Manipulation Lawsuits