In re European Government Bonds Antitrust Litigation

Labaton Sucharow has been appointed interim co-lead counsel in a class action lawsuit against certain financial institutions, including Bank of America and Royal Bank of Scotland, for participating in an alleged scheme to manipulate the prices of Eurozone Government Bonds that U.S. investors bought and sold.

Eurozone Government Bonds are sovereign debt issued by European central governments that have adopted the Euro as their official currency. The estimated market for these bonds is $9.4 trillion.

According to the complaint, from as early as January 1, 2007 and continuing through at least December 31, 2012, defendants colluded with each other to fix the prices at which they bought and sold Eurozone Government Bonds. Using electronic communications, including instant messages and chatrooms, traders from defendant banks discussed their respective customers’ identities and confidential information about the size and nature of their orders before deciding the prices they would quote to their customers.

The conduct was discovered by European regulators following an extensive investigation, which culminated with the European Commission issuing a Statement of Objections in January 2019 alleging that eight banks “participated in a collusive scheme that aimed at distorting competition when acquiring and trading European government bonds.”

The case is In re European Government Bonds Antitrust Litigation, No. 19-cv-2601 (S.D.N.Y.).