Traders must communicate to trade. And to collude. The Manipulation Monitor covers the manipulation of the financial markets in violation of the antitrust laws.
This brief post will take a look at the highlights of those answers and defenses, and provide a quick rundown of the current Case Management Order (“CMO”), filed on November 15th in the stock loan market manipulation lawsuits. Continue reading Stock Loan Lowdown: Is the Answer a Lemon?
In this post, we cover the alleged facts and procedural history of FrontPoint Asian Event Driven Fund, Ltd. et al v. Citibank, N.A. et al., 16-cv-05263 (SDNY) (“Frontpoint”), as detailed in Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint and an Opinion and Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss (the “Decision”) issued on October 4, 2018 by Judge Hellerstein. Continue reading Alleged Manipulation of the Singapore Benchmark Rates
Law 360 reports that Eastman Kodak has filed claims against Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Glencore, and other entities, accusing them of violating UK and EU competition law by manipulating or distorting the aluminum market by conspiring with aluminium warehousers affiliated with the London Metal Exchange to withhold or delay supplies. A similar lawsuit in the United States was dismissed on the grounds that Eastman Kodak and other direct purchasers lacked antitrust standing, and that decision is on appeal to the Second Circuit. Continue reading Eastman Kodak Takes Aluminum Market Manipulation Claims to the UK
This week we cover the July 28, 2017, decision on the Motion to Dismiss the Second Amended Complaint in Interest Rate Swaps Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:16-md-02704 (SDNY) (“IRS Antitrust Litigation”), an action previously introduced in our August 6, 2018, post, where one can find a full account of the alleged collusion. The Court granted Defendants’ motion for the time period of 2007-2012, but predominately denied it for the period of 2013-2016. Continue reading SEF Scuttling? Alleged Manipulation of the Interest Rate Swap Market – Part II – Buy-Side Funds Claims Survive Motion to Dismiss Shelling, but Not Unscathed.
We closed out our first VIX-is-Fixed post with a promise to deliver real-time updates on the state of the VIX complaint. While we’ve failed a bit in that regard, we’ve added a timely discovery update to this post to make up for it – keep scrolling to find out just what tricks the Plaintiffs have up their sleeves. Continue reading The VIX is Fixed?! A Complaint is Remixed
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 for individual defendants. We now summarize the remaining arguments made in Defendants’ motion, which concern whether plaintiffs have established antitrust standing, have failed to state a claim for unjust enrichment, and whether Plaintiffs’ claims are time-barred and barred by the Foreign Trade and Antitrust Improvements Act. Continue reading Mexican Government Bond Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Part Two
This week we cover the Motion to Dismiss and affirming Appellate decisions decided in 2014 and 2016 in In re: Aluminum Warehousing Antitrust Litigation, 1:13-md-02481-KBF (SDNY), an action previously introduced in our September 24, 2018, post, where one can find a full account of the alleged collusion. Continue reading Alleged Aluminum Allocation Fixing – Part II – Failure to Allege that the Injury was “Inextricably Intertwined”
Counsel for Iowa Public must have gone home happy on September 27th, as the long-awaited motion to dismiss decision could hardly have played out more favorably for them. With the caveat that “it remains to be seen whether Plaintiffs’ factual allegations will be born out in discovery,” Judge Failla rejected each of Defendants five bases for dismissal and denied their 12(b)(6) motion. Continue reading Stock Loan Lowdown: Class NOT Dismissed
Reuters and Yahoo News are reporting that the CFTC has ordered Bank of America N.A. to pay a fine of $30 million to settle charges that it “made false reports and attempted to manipulate the U.S. Dollar International Swaps and Derivatives Association Fix (USD ISDAFIX), a leading global benchmark” between 2007 and 2012. The US Dollar ISDAFIX benchmark is referenced in a range of interest rate products. Continue reading Bank of America Pays $30 Million Civil Penalty For Attempted Manipulation Of USD ISDAFIX Benchmark
Reuters reports that CBOE is working with FINRA “to develop machine learning techniques to tell whether market conditions surrounding the VIX settlement are potentially anomalous” in order to address concerns that traders could manipulate its VIX volatility index by strategically placing S&P options orders. Continue reading Chicago Board Options Exchange Takes Steps To Address Volatility Index Manipulation Concerns
