Interest Rate Swaps Antitrust Litigation (Anti-Competitive)

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Interest Rate Swaps Antitrust Litigation (Anti-Competitive)

SETTLEMENT FUND: TBD

FILING DEADLINE: TBD

CASE NUMBER:

1:16-md-02704 U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York

CLASS PERIOD:

2009-

NON-SETTLING DEFENDANTS
CS, JP Morgan Chase, MS, UBS, Barclays, RBS, Bank of America, BNP, Deutsche, Citibank, Goldman Sachs and HSBC

ELIGIBLE CLASS
TBD
PROPOSED INSTRUMENTS
Interest Rate Swaps:

IRS is a type of financial derivative. It is an agreement between two parties to trade interest-rate cash flows on a specific amount of money for a fixed period of time. In the most common type of swap — often referred to as a “plain vanilla” swap — one counterparty
pays the other a fixed interest rate in exchange for receiving a floating interest rate. The floating rate is often tied to an industry benchmark (or “reference rate”), such as the LIBOR. The counterparty paying a fixed rate is typically referred to as the “buyer,” and the counterparty making payments at the floating rate is known as the “seller.” The value of the contract to each side moves (in opposite directions) depending on changes in interest rates.
Preliminary Allegations
The complaint alleges that this case concerns a conspiracy among major interest rate swaps (“IRS”) dealers (“Dealer Defendants”) to boycott Plaintiffs in order to undermine increased competition in the IRS market and thereby maintain the Dealer Defendants’ massive profits.
Case Summary
The complaint alleges that this case concerns a conspiracy among major interest rate swaps (“IRS”) dealers (“Dealer Defendants”) to boycott Plaintiffs in order to undermine increased competition in the IRS market and thereby maintain the Dealer Defendants’ massive profits. By boycotting and thus destroying Plaintiffs’ trading platforms, all Defendants have succeeded in blocking IRS customers, such as pension funds and municipalities, from enjoying the benefits of greater price transparency and competition.