U.S. antitrust suits alleging abuses by investment banks around FOREX, LIBOR, and other benchmark rates have recovered billions of dollars for harmed investors. With more than 50 active antitrust cases in various stages of litigation, the pipeline of these actions indicates similar recoveries will continue for years in the future.

In Q1 2020 alone, FRT filed claims in three antitrust case settlements including FX Canada – CAD $109.8m (read our case spotlight), GSE Bonds – $49.5m (read our case update), and Euroyen $71m (read our case update) for some of the largest asset managers and asset owners in the world, as well as hundreds of other clients.

With another settlement for the GSE Bonds case ($250m) fast approaching, here are a few lessons learned that may be relevant for this case and future antitrust settlements:

GSE BONDS ANTITRUST CASE: LESSONS LEARNED

• Investors found that their current provider was not assisting with the data gathering process: FRT received several inbound inquiries from investors who were asked by their current provider to determine whether each relevant trade was associated with a bond that was callable or not and when the maturity date for that bond was.
  • FRT is a technology company and has developed repeatable, controlled workflows designed specifically to handle antitrust cases and can manage the process from beginning to end.  For the GSE Bonds case, we sourced the callable information and maturity date for the underlying bonds in-house by pulling the data from a variety of industry databases and proprietary sources. This information is needed in order to file the claims and is not typically stored with the client’s transaction history.

• Data needed was dynamic and changing on a near-daily basis: The CUSIP list provided by the claim administrator for the GSE Bond case was changed and expanded at least four times. Originally only 84,035 CUSIPs were required. Almost one month ahead of the deadline, the claim administrator added over an additional 2,000 CUISPS, but also removed more than 27,000. This caused a massive operational burden for investors and in some cases, 3rd party providers may not have tried to acquire the additional identifiers so close to the deadline.
  • Eligibility for this case involved 100+ thousand security-identifiers covering a ten-year-long class period. With a dedicated operational team of over 50 individuals, FRT was able to notify our clients of any new data requirements and acquire data and identify eligibility across the ever-changing CUSIP list to ensure a complete claim filing.

• GSE Bonds is not over: A $250 million settlement involving defendant banks: BNP Paribas Securities Corp., Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co., LLC, Nomura Securities International, Inc., SG Americas Securities LLC, TD Securities (USA) LLC, and UBS Securities LLC reached settlement agreements. Together, these settlements bring the total recoveries to $386.5 million.
  • The claims administrator has proposed a claim filing deadline of May 12, 2020. If you entered into a GSE Bond Transaction at any time during the relevant period, contact your FRT representative or email us at learnmore@frtservices.com.

Learn More

To learn more about how FRT can help your firm maximize recoveries in antitrust and all shareholder class action settlements, email us at  learnmore@frtservices.com.

• Whitepapers:
  • A Primer on Antitrust Litigation
  • Antitrust – The Evolving Fiduciary Landscape
• Blogs:
  • Why the Deutsche Bank Settlement is Good News for Investors in the GSE Bond Market
  • Euroyen Case Update (October 2019): Eight Japanese Banks Receive Preliminary Approval for $71M Settlement
  • A look back at Antitrust Litigation in 2018
  • FX Case Update (March 2019): Memo filed in support of motion for initial distribution
  • FX Case Update (August 2019): Two Settlements of Indirect Forex Suits Have Received Preliminary Approval
  • Euroyen Case Update (February 2018): Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Bank Corp Reaches Settlement in the Euroyean Case > 30 million
• Case Spotlight
  • Case Spotlight: FX Canada
  • GSE Bond Case Update (December 2019): More Banks Settle Bringing Total Recovery to $386.5M
  • Euroyen Case Update (October 2019): Eight Japanese Banks Receive Preliminary Approval for $71M Settlement
• Webinar:
  • Lessons Learned from Recent Shareholder Litigation Cases Outside the United States

About FRT

SETTLED CLAIMS  I  PASSIVE GROUP  I  ANTITRUST  I  FUTURE CLAIMS  I  OPT-IN MONITORING  I OPT-OUT MONITORING

Founded in 2008, Financial Recovery Technologies (FRT) is the leading technology-based services firm that helps the investment community identify eligibility, file claims and collect funds made available in securities and other class action settlements. Offering the most comprehensive range of claim filing and monitoring services available, we provide best-in-class eligibility analysis, disbursement auditing and client reporting, and deliver the highest level of accuracy, accountability, and transparency available. For more information, go to www.frtservices.com.

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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.