Manipulation Monitor

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. Continue reading VRDO-Bond Price Fixing Claims Survive Motion to Dismiss

The SSA Bonds action concerns allegations that secondary-market dealers for SSA bonds colluded to manipulate prices. As previously reported in this blog, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, and HSBC settled settled for a combined $95.5 million, and the court subsequently dismissed all claims against the remaining foreign and domestic defendants, including Barclays, Citgroup, RBC, Credit Suisse, Credit Agricole, and TD Bank. This post focuses on aspects of the plaintiffs’ plan to allocate the settlement funds, supported in motion papers, which was given preliminary approval by Judge Edgardo Ramos on July 15, 2020. Continue reading Preliminary Approval Given For SSA Bond Settlement Allocation Plan

For this Manipulation Monitor post, I’m going to dig up something from the archives for an update. If you’ve been reading for a while, you might remember our March 2019 post on a new litigation concerning government-sponsored enterprises, or GSE. If that’s not ringing any bells, or if you think you could just use a refresh after eighteen months, you can take a look back here: SOS to GSEs: Your Bonds are a Beautiful Mess. As you might suspect, things haven’t been quiet over in the Southern District. This post will cover the highlights: two motions to dismiss, motion to certify a class, and a global settlement. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started! Continue reading SOS to GSEs: A Wrap-Up

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