The Battea Report: Q1 2022 Client Newsletter
Settlement Funds with Imminent Claims Filing Deadlines
[table “” not found /]
COMEX GOLD FIXING TRADING SETTLEMENT:
ELIGIBLE CLASS: All persons or entities who during the Class Period: (i) sold gold bullion or gold bullion coins; (ii) sold gold futures contracts traded on COMEX or other exchanges operated in the United States; (iii) sold shares in Gold ETFs; (iv) sold gold call options traded on COMEX or other exchanges operated in the United States; (v) bought gold put options traded on COMEX or other exchanges operated in the United States; (vi) sold over-the-counter gold spot or forward transactions or gold call options; or (vii) bought over the-counter gold put options.
ELIGIBLE INSTRUMENTS: Physical, derivatives, and futures, including products such as any physical gold, gold bars, ingots, gold coins, gold futures contracts on the COMEX or other exchanges in the US, shares in gold ETF’s, Gold OTC spot, forwards, swaps and options.
JP MORGAN US TREASURY FUTURES SPOOFING SETTLEMENT:
ELIGIBLE CLASS: All persons and entities wherever located that transacted in U.S. Treasury Futures or Options on U.S. Treasury Futures on United States-Based Exchanges, including but not limited to The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, including its subsidiary The Chicago Board of Trade, from April 1, 2008 through January 31, 2016 (the “CLASS PERIOD”)
ELIGIBLE INSTRUMENTS: “U.S. Treasury Futures” means: (i) 2-year T-Note Futures; (ii) 3-year T-Note Futures; (iii) 5-year T-Note Futures; (iv) 10- year T-Note Futures; (v) Ultra 10-year T-Note Futures; (vi) U.S. Treasury Bond Futures; and (vii) Ultra U.S. Treasury Bond Futures. “Options on U.S. Treasury Futures” means any option on U.S. Treasury Futures.
JP MORGAN PRECIOUS METALS FUTURES SPOOFING SETTLEMENT:
ELIGIBLE CLASS: All persons or entities who, during the Class Period, purchased or sold Precious Metals futures or options on futures on US based exchanges (CME, etc.). Eligible Instruments: All US exchange futures trading (options included) of Precious Metals, which would include Gold, Silver, Palladium and Platinum.
ELIGIBLE INSTRUMENTS: “Precious Metals Futures” means Gold Futures contract(s), Silver Futures contract(s), Platinum Futures contract(s), or Palladium Futures contract(s), and “Options on Precious Metals Futures” means any option on Precious Metals Futures.
DEFERRED PROSECUTION AGREEMENT: PRECIOUS METALS AND US TREASURY FUTURES SPOOFING – JP MORGAN:
ELIGIBLE CLASS: All persons and entities who, directly or through an agent, entered into U.S.-based Precious Metals Futures and U.S. Treasury Futures transactions during the Class Period.
ELIGIBLE INSTRUMENTS: U.S. Treasury Futures Contracts, U.S. Treasury Notes & Bonds, Gold, Silver, Platinum & Palladium Futures Contracts *NOTE: Claims submitted without a TAG50 will not be accepted, nor processed, by the DOJ
BBSW (AUSSIE BANK BILL SWAP RATE) SETTLEMENT:
ELIGIBLE CLASS: Entities that purchased, sold, held, traded, or otherwise had any interest in BBSW-Based Derivatives at any time in the class period. “BBSW-Based Derivatives” means (i) a BBSW-based interest rate swap entered into by a U.S. Person, or by a Person from or through a location within the U.S.; (ii) an option on a BBSW-based interest rate swap (“swaption”) entered into by a U.S. Person, or by a Person from or through a location within the U.S.; (iii) a BBSW-based forward rate agreement entered into by a U.S. Person, or by a Person from or through a location within the U.S; (iv) an Australian dollar currency forward agreement entered into by a U.S. Person, or by a Person from or through a location within the U.S.; (v) an Australian dollar futures contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (“CME”); (vi) an Australian dollar foreign exchange forward entered into by a U.S. Person, or by a Person from or through a location within the U.S.; and/or (vii) 90-day Bank Accepted Bill futures contracts on the Australian Securities Exchange entered into by a U.S. Person, or by a Person from or through a location within the U.S.
ELIGIBLE INSTRUMENTS: Products based off the BBSW, such as BBSW Interest Rate Swaps, Swaptions, FRAs, AUD Currency Forwards, AUD FX Futures (CME), 90 Day BAB Futures.
The Battea Report: Recent International Litigation Updates
Steinhoff Group Settlement
On January 24, 2022, the Courts of South Africa approved the Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. (“Steinhoff” or “SIHNV”) settlement of $437.4 Million relating to its alleged accounting improprieties at two separate Steinhoff subsidiaries. These instances of fraud could have distorted the value, and revenues, of Steinhoff’s global furniture business during the Class Period of March 2, 2009 through December 5, 2017.
With this decision, the “Settlement Effective Date” (referred to under the s155 Proposal and the SIHNV’s Composition Plan — a copy of which can be found here) was expected to occur on or about February 15, 2022. This means that investors have only 90 days after February 15th to properly file in this case.
SPECIAL HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: There is a case specific Power of Attorney that must be completed and signed by each claimant. Documentation is required for close of day position on March 1, 2009 & December 5, 2017, as well as each transaction from March 2, 2009 through December 6, 2017.
For assistance in filing in these cases, please contact your Customer Service Representative today. Battea will work to deliver you the maximum awards to which you are entitled. REMINDER: Investors only had 90 days (the deadline is set for May 15, 2022) after February 15th to properly file in this case and late filings will not be accepted.
Petrobras “Lavo Jato” Litigation
The Stichting Petrobras Compensation Foundation (SPCF) is representing damaged investors who transacted on the primary market in Brazil and on linked markets around the world (excluding the ADRs traded on the NYSE) and who held non-US bonds, a class of investors with estimated damages in excess of $15 billion. In May 2021, the District Court in Rotterdam ruled that SPCF has standing to pursue declaratory relief for the damaged investor class and that the Netherlands is the proper jurisdiction to pursue a declaratory relief judgement. An oral hearing is scheduled for late 2022. Upon a favorable judgement on declaratory relief for the damaged investor class, Petrobras will be found liable for violating securities laws and the litigation will proceed to the damages phase where SPCF will file claims for full damages plus interest on behalf of the investors it represents – more than $15 billion in claims and compensation for damaged investors who are eligible to pursue claims.
The Foundation urges continued participation from investors who have not yet joined the damaged investor coalition. For more information, contact ISAF today: https://isafmanagement.com/petrobras-case/case-participation
Volkswagen “Dieselgate” Litigation
During the third, and fourth quarters of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, TILP Litigation Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, the German law firm representing institutional investors in the lower court and the model plaintiff in the KapMuG proceeding in the higher court, over the course of several oral hearings and written briefings has so far successfully stayed the cases of many of the individual claimants in the lower court. Over the next several months, TILP will continue their work to stay the cases of the individual claimants in the lower court. The goal of the proceedings in the lower court is to establish that the standing and the claims of damaged VW investors should be stayed in the lower court and ultimately included in the KapMuG proceedings in the higher court. The class of damaged investors with claims that should be included in the KapMuG case in the higher court is approximately $9 billion.
For more information, contact ISAF today: https://isafmanagement.com/contact
Danske Bank “Money Laundering Scandal” Securities Litigation
In 2019, multiple shareholder-driven coalitions filed lawsuits in Denmark against Danske Bank for damages related to the Estonian money laundering scandal.
Several of the collective action claimant groups are currently pending and essentially stayed in the City Court of Copenhagen. A subset of plaintiff/claimants was transferred to the Eastern Division of the High Court (Østre Landsret) for trial as bellwether cases. The groups of plaintiffs that remain in the lower court await the procedural and declaratory outcomes in the Eastern Division. The Eastern Division case complex is in a largely procedural and hearing scheduling phase. The plaintiff groups that were not selected to represent the larger class in the higher court did petition the higher court to have at least some of the cases transferred to the Eastern Division, but the Court determined that the claims/pleadings were similar enough that they would adjudicate using the smaller set of cases.
The plaintiff groups and coalitions in both the City Court and the Eastern Division are collaborating to the extent possible to advance the litigation and protect the claims of the entire class of damaged investors who filed suits against the Danske Bank defendants. The aggregate investor claims filed against Danske Bank exceed $1 billion.
The legal coalitions representing damaged Danske Bank investors believe there won’t be any real movement in any of the cases for the remainder of 2022. There are scheduled briefings and procedural hearings every few months or so, but there won’t be any substantive rulings coming out of the Eastern Division Court in the near term that will impact the cases that have been stayed in the lower courts.
For more information, contact ISAF today: https://isafmanagement.com/contact
The Battea Report: Battea in the News
Council for Institutional Investors (CII) Q&A with Battea’s President
During CII’s Annual Spring Conference in March, Battea hosted the opening night’s reception at the Mandarin Oriental, in Washington D.C.
M&A Today® Global Awards 2022
Battea has been chosen as the recipient of the Best in Hedge Fund Securities Class Action Settlement Recovery – 2022 by M&A Today®. Each award winner is chosen on their domestic and international work. The awards recognize dedication to excellence on a global basis.
Reminder: The main ingredient in a successful filing is the data – in this case your data! If you have any questions about how you can ensure that we have all of your eligible transactional data, please contact your customer service representative at Battea or call at (203) 987-4949.