Bank of America Settles with FX Manipulation Victims

Scott+Scott, Attorneys at Law, LLP has reached an agreement in principle with Bank of America, N.A., following an investigation and subsequent litigation over the manipulation of FX benchmark rates, according to a Scott+Scott statement.

Scott+Scott is an international law firm known for prosecuting high-stakes antitrust and securities lawsuits throughout the US on behalf of institutional investors, businesses and corporations.

The agreement ensures crucial cooperation that will assist victims in obtaining additional monetary relief

The case, In re Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:13-cv-7789 (S.D.N.Y.) is the latest in a line of cases prosecuted by the law firm. In particular, Bank of Americaâs settlement agreement includes both monetary relief and cooperation to the plaintiffs in their prosecution of claims against the remaining defendants.

The terms of the agreement will in essence mirror those that Scott+Scott had previously reached in two other settlements in the lawsuit originally filed in November of 2013 â the FX industry had previously been the subject of several probes into the manipulation of benchmark rates. Back in January 2015, the firm also announced a settlement with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and JPM Chase Bank, N.A. for the sum of $99.5 million, in addition to their cooperation.

More recently, in March 2015, Scott+Scott also reached a settlement with UBS AG, UBS Group AG and UBS Securities LLC for $135 million, in addition to their cooperation. Presently, the case is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, before Judge Lorna G. Schofield, who denied the defendantsâ motion to dismiss on January 28, 2015.

According to David R. Scott, Managing Partner of Scott+Scott, in a recent statement on the settlement, âThis latest settlement sends a message to Wall Street banks that their longstanding practice of putting their own interests ahead of their customers in the foreign exchange market must end. We look forward to prosecuting our claims against the remaining defendants.â

âThis latest agreement with Bank of America will offer further compensation for victims. Equally important, the agreement ensures crucial cooperation that will assist victims in obtaining additional monetary relief from other financial institutions that took advantage of their clients,â added Christopher M. Burke, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, in an accompanying statement.

The litigation in the aforementioned cases alleges that since 2003, the financial institutions have collectively conspired to manipulate the WM/Reuters Closing Spot Rates in the $5.4 trillion-per-day FX market. While UBS, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase have all been dealt with thus far, there are a number of remaining defendants in the FX antitrust litigation. These include: