CASE BACKGROUND

Organizers are currently investigating a potential recovery effort for investors against Barlcays plc (Barlcays) claiming the firm grew market share for its dark pool securities trading facilities, called LX Liquidity Cross (LX), through misrepresentations about how, and for whose protection and benefit, they were operated.

On June 25, 2014, the New York State Attorney General (AG) issued a press release about its lawsuit against Barclays and Barclays Capital Inc. (Barclays Capital), the entity through which Barclays operates in the US. In its suit, the AG claimed that contrary to Barclay’s public statements about safeguards to protect clients from predatory high frequency traders, it actually operated the dark pools for its own benefit. The press release caused the price of Barclay’s London exchange listed shares to fall £0.13 per share, wiping out more than £2.08 billion in market capital.

DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY & COSTS

In order to participate in this action, investors must have held shares at market close on June 25, 2014 or have purchased shares during the September 2013 Barclays Rights Issue and held at least some of those shares through June 25, 2014.

In the UK, the losing side may be ordered by the court to pay the prevailing side’s legal fees and case costs. This risk is theoretically uncapped, increasing as litigation proceeds. For more information on eligibility and costs, please contact your FRT Representative.

WHY IS THERE A TIGHT DEADLINE?

The deadline is due to an expiring limitations period – the legal time limit for filing claims. UK law requires certain claims to be filed within 6 years after investors knew or reasonably should have known of the wrongdoing. The Organizers are starting the six years from the June 25, 2014 press release by the AG.

WHY ARE FAST-TRACKED CASES IMPORTANT TO INVESTORS?

A fast-tracked case is an action being organized with an imminent deadline, often associating with a Statute of Limitation expiry date. A Statute of Limitations is a law set to determine the time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. In securities litigation, the law requires certain claims to be filed in that set time period.

These types of cases appear because organizers decided to not get involved in the past, but as the expiry period approaches, they choose to make the last-minute decision to organize a group to pursue claims.

For investors, these actions are not only a potential opportunity to recover funds from your claim, but a valuable opportunity to partner with firms like FRT to establish a streamlined process to evaluate and participate in opt-in litigation outside of the U.S. Due to the short time frame involved in the decision-making process for fast-tracked cases, it is important to partner with firms like FRT, who have the capability of ingesting this case data and coordinating with clients in short amount of time to discuss eligibility and next steps.

NEXT STEPS

The Organizers are proposing a two-phase strategy:

• Phase 1: This first stage will focus on preserving claims – i.e. preventing them from expiring on June 25, 2020 – by attempting to negotiate an early, out-of-court settlement. This may involve entering into a standstill or tolling agreement with Barclays, suspending the limitations clock, or filing claims in court to ‘perfect’ them (stopping the clock) but delaying serving the complaint on Barclays.
• Phase 2: If the first stage fails to produce a settlement, the Organizers will file claims in court – if they have not already done so during Stage 1 – and serve the complaint on the Barclays and litigate to resolution.

If you want to join this effort, you must return executed copies of the following by no later than June 1, 2020:

• A Litigation Funding Agreement;
• An Engagement Letter; and
• A Group Litigation Agreement (GLA) governing the relationship between you and other claimants. The GLA creates a Steering Committee to work with counsel and make decisions for claimants.

Please contact your FRT Representative or email us learnmore@frtservices.com if you would like to discuss registration in this effort.

Learn More

To learn more about how FRT can help your firm automate participation and recovery in antitrust class actions, visit our website or contact us at learnmore@frtservices.com.

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• [Blog] Webinar Replay: Lessons Learned from Recent Shareholder Litigation Cases Outside the United States
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• [Blog] Part 1: Three reasons why firms are implementing a shareholder litigation policy

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This communication and the content found by following any link herein are being provided to you by Financial Recovery Technologies (FRT) for informational purposes only and does not constitute advice. All material presented herein is believed to be reliable but FRT makes no representation or warranty with respect to this communication or such content and expressly disclaims any implied warranty under law. Opinions expressed in this communication may change without prior notice. Firms should always seek legal and financial advice specific to their unique situation and objectives.