On December 26, 2018, J.P. Morgan Chase N.A. agreed to pay $135 million to settle SEC charges of improper handling of prereleased American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). The plaintiffs allege that the banks deducted impermissible fees for conducting foreign exchange from dividends and/or cash distributions issued by foreign companies and then owed to ADR holders.

ADRs are U.S. securities that represent foreign shares of a foreign company. They require a corresponding number of foreign shares to be held in custody at a depositary bank. Improperly providing ADRs that are not supported by underlying foreign securities can create inappropriate short-selling and dividend arbitrage.

DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY

The class consists of all Persons or entities who are or were holders (directly or indirectly, registered or beneficially) of or otherwise claim any entitlement to any payment (whether a dividend, rights offering, interest on capital, sale of shares or other distribution) in connection with: (1) the securities listed in Appendix 1 of the Notice (including any predecessor or successor securities) from November 21, 2010 to July 18, 2018, inclusive; or (2) the securities listed in Appendix 2 of the Notice (including any predecessor or successor securities) from November 21, 2012 to July 18, 2018, inclusive (collectively, the Settlement Class).

THE CHALLENGES

In general, claims in shareholder class settlements require that you report purchases, sales and/or holdings in the relevant securities for the settlement. For ADR FX Fee settlements and this settlement with J.P. Morgan, the process is different. Specifically, the data needed to file is related to each claimant’s yearly dividend or cash distribution totals for each ADR.  With this information, the administrator can isolate the impact of the defendant banks’ alleged misconduct on the foreign exchange fees they charged to owners of the relevant ADRs.

OUR APPROACH 

Just like any other shareholder class action case, FRT identifies clients who have traded during the relevant time period. However, due to the complexity of the data needed to file for this case, we have given our clients two options:

1. The client provides FRT with the case specific data that will load and file on their behalf
2. FRT will use the client’s existing trade data to calculate the dividends needed to file

For more information on this case, please contact your FRT representative or email us at learnmore@frtservices.com.

NEXT STEPS

FRT will continue to monitor for other settling defendants and key dates that impact this case.

• To Be Determined: Claims Filing Deadline
• April 15, 2019: Exclusion and Objection Deadline
• May 20, 2019: Final Approval Hearing

ADR-related settlements:

• BNY Mellon agreed to pay more than $54 million
• Citigroup Inc. agreed to pay more than $38 million
• Deutsche Bank AG agreed to pay more than $75 million

Learn More

• A Primer on Shareholder Class Action
• A Primer on Global Group Litigation
• A Primer on Antitrust Litigation
• Illustrating The Outer Time Limits By Which Filing Decisions Must Be Made
• Calculating Inflationary Losses for Comparison to Loss Thresholds
• Global Landscape Continues to Evolve in the Wake of Morrison Decision

About FRT

U.S. CLAIMS  I  GLOBAL GROUP LITIGATION  I  ANTITRUST  I  LITIGATION MONITORING  I  BUYOUTS

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.