Month: August 2020

We write to update you on events in the consolidated actions in the Southern District of New York before Judge Oetken known as In re Mexican Government Bonds Antitrust Litigation, 18-cv-02830 (In re MGB), which relates to allegations of a conspiracy among several banks to inflate the price of Mexican Government Bonds, debt securities issued by the Mexican government at regularly scheduled weekly auctions. Continue reading Update on Alleged Manipulation of the Market for Mexican Government Bonds

As previously reported, the central allegation of the action is that dealers in the secondary market for SSA (“supranational, sub-sovereign, and agency”) bonds colluded to reduce competition and to manipulate bond prices. The defendants include(d) many large financial institutions—BofA, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse etc.—through both domestic and foreign entities. BofA and Deutsche Bank settled for $65.5 million in August 2017. Judge Ramos granted an initial motion to dismiss without prejudice in August 2018 because the complaint failed to allege with particularity how each defendant participated in the scheme, how each plaintiff was specifically injured by any individual transaction, and whether a conspiracy existed between the defendants. Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in November 2018, and defendants moved to dismiss a second time. In January 2019, HSBC settled for $30 million. Judge Ramos considered the motion to dismiss in two stages. First, on October 4, 2019, he dismissed all claims brought against the foreign defendants and the individual defendants (all British) for lack of personal jurisdiction, with prejudice. Then, on March 18, 2020, he dismissed all claims against the remaining (domestic) defendants, also with prejudice. Continue reading SSA Bond Litigation Update: Remaining Claims Dismissed