Kirby McInerney LLP and Lovell Stewart Halebian Jacobson LLP Announce Aggregate Settlement Funds Totaling $187,000,000 if You Transacted in Eurodollar Futures Contract and/or Options on Eurodollar Futures on Exchanges, such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, between January 1, 2003 and May 31, 2011

NEW YORK, April 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --

If You Transacted in Eurodollar Futures Contracts and/or Options on Eurodollar Futures on
Exchanges, such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange,
between January 1, 2003 and May 31, 2011,

You May Be Eligible to Receive Payment of a Portion of Aggregate Settlement Funds Totaling
$187,000,000¹

The purpose of this notice is to inform you of a partial settlement of a class action lawsuit pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  The lawsuit involves the alleged manipulation of U.S. Dollar LIBOR ("LIBOR") and its impact on Eurodollar futures contracts and/or options on Eurodollar futures ("Eurodollar Futures") that are linked to LIBOR. The lawsuit against the Non-Settling Defendants remains ongoing.  This lawsuit (referred to as the "Exchange-Based Plaintiffs' Action") has been consolidated within In re LIBOR-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation, 11 MDL No. 2262 (S.D.N.Y.)

There are proposed Settlements reached separately with Bank of America Corporation and Bank of America, N.A. (collectively "BOA"), Barclays Bank plc ("Barclays"), Citigroup Inc., Citibank, N.A., and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (collectively, "Citi"), Deutsche Bank AG, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., and DB Group Services (UK) Limited (collectively, "Deutsche Bank"), HSBC Bank plc ("HSBC"), JPMorgan Chase & Co. and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (collectively "JPMorgan"), and Société Générale ("SG") (BOA, Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan, and SG are referred to collectively herein as the "Settling Defendants").  These Settlements impact persons, corporations and other legal entities that transacted in Eurodollar futures contracts and/or options on Eurodollar futures on exchanges, including without limitation, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (the "CME"), between January 1, 2003 and May 31, 2011 (the "Settlement Class Period").

The lawsuit asserts that the Defendant banks (listed on the settlement website, www.USDLiborEurodollarSettlements.com) artificially manipulated U.S. Dollar LIBOR and Eurodollar Futures during the Settlement Class Period by misreporting their borrowing costs to the organization that calculated LIBOR.  The alleged manipulation of the U.S. Dollar LIBOR rate allegedly caused Eurodollar Futures prices to be suppressed and/or inflated to artificial levels, thereby causing Settlement Class Members to pay artificial prices for Eurodollar Futures during the Settlement Class Period. Plaintiffs have asserted claims under the Commodity Exchange Act and Sherman Antitrust Act and for unjust enrichment.  The Court has issued at least eight published opinions addressing various legal matters raised by the parties in this action.  The Settling Defendants have entered into these proposed Settlements to resolve the claims asserted against them. The Settling Defendants deny all claims of wrongdoing.

Claims against Non-Settling Defendants have been limited by the Court's prior rulings. The Court previously dismissed claims against certain defendants for lack of personal jurisdiction and other claims as against SG on statute of limitations grounds. The Court also denied Plaintiffs' class certification motion. Plaintiffs petitioned the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for interlocutory review of the Court's denial of class certification.  The Court of Appeals denied that petition.  As a result, your participation in these Settlements may offer the best, and perhaps only, chance for you to receive any monetary recovery from this lawsuit.

Am I included?

The Settlement Classes are defined in the Full Notice and the Settlement Agreements, which are available for review on the settlement website.  In general, you are a Settlement Class Member if you transacted in Eurodollar futures contracts and/or options on Eurodollar futures on exchanges, including without limitation, the CME, between January 1, 2003 and May 31, 2011.  Excluded from the Settlement Class are: (i) Defendants, their employees, affiliates, parents, subsidiaries, and alleged co-conspirators; (ii) the Releasees (as defined in the Settlement Agreements described below); and (iii) any Settlement Class Member who files a timely and valid request for exclusion. Notwithstanding these exclusions, and solely for the purposes of the Settlements and the Settlement Class, Investment Vehicles shall not be excluded from the Settlement Class solely on the basis of being deemed to be Defendants or affiliates or subsidiaries of Defendants. However, to the extent that any Defendant or any entity that might be deemed to be an affiliate or subsidiary thereof (i) managed or advised, and (ii) directly or indirectly held a beneficial interest in, said Investment Vehicle during the Class Period, that beneficial interest in the Investment Vehicle is excluded from the Settlement Class.

What do the Settlements provide?

In order to resolve the claims against them, the Settling Defendants have separately agreed to individual settlement amounts totaling $187,000,000 in the aggregate for the benefit of the Settlement Class in exchange for releases of the claims against them, as fully detailed in the Settlement Agreements.  Specifically, BOA has agreed to pay $15 million; Barclays has agreed to pay $19.975 million; Citi has agreed to pay $33.4 million; Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $80 million; HSBC has agreed to pay $18.5 million; JPMorgan has agreed to pay $15 million; and SG has agreed to pay $5,125,000.  The Settlement Agreements are available for review on the settlement website referenced below.  The Settling Defendants have also agreed to provide certain specified cooperation to the Plaintiffs that can be used in the prosecution of claims against the Non-Settling Defendants. 

How can I get a payment?

If you transacted in U.S. Dollar LIBOR-based Eurodollar futures contracts and/or options on Eurodollar futures on exchanges such as the CME between January 1, 2003 and May 31, 2011 and do not exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you must file a timely and valid Proof of Claim Form to be potentially eligible for any payment. You may obtain a Proof of Claim Form on the settlement website referenced below and submit it online or by mail. The amount of any payment under the Settlements will be determined by a Plan of Distribution approved by the Court.  A copy of the proposed Plan of Distribution is available for review on the settlement website at www.USDLiborEurodollarSettlements.com.

The proposed Plan provides for distribution of 75% of the Net Settlement Fund on the basis of pro rata "Recognized Net Loss" and 25% on the basis of pro rata "Recognized Volume," subject to a guaranteed minimum payment of $20.  Only Eligible Claimants may participate in the distribution of the Net Settlement Fund.  An Eligible Claimant is a Settlement Class Member whose proof of claim is found to be timely, adequately supported, properly verified and otherwise valid pursuant to the Plan of Distribution all as determined by the Settlement Administrator. At this time, it is unknown how much, if anything, each Eligible Claimant may receive.

To be timely, all Proof of Claim Forms must be postmarked by mail or submitted electronically by December 1, 2020.

What are my rights?

You have the right to remain a member of the Settlement Class or to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class. If you remain a member of the Settlement Class, and if the Settlements are approved, you may be eligible to share pro rata in the Net Settlement Fund by timely submitting a valid Proof of Claim Form.  If you participate in the Settlements, you will, however, lose your right to individually sue any of the Settling Defendants or their affiliated persons and entities for the alleged conduct at issue in the lawsuit, and will be bound by the Court's orders concerning the Settlements. If you stay in the Settlement Class, you may object to one or more of the proposed Settlements, the proposed Plan of Distribution, the requested attorneys' fees, expense reimbursement, and service awards mentioned below by August 27, 2020. Any objections must be filed with the Court and delivered to the designated representative for Settlement Class Counsel and counsel for the Settling Defendants in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Full Notice. The Settlements will not release your claims against any Non-Settling Defendants, and the lawsuit continues against them.

If you want to keep your right to individually sue the Settling Defendants or their affiliated persons and entities, you must exclude yourself from the Settlement Class for that Settling Defendant(s) by August 27, 2020, in the manner and form explained in the detailed Full Notice. All Settlement Class Members who have not timely and validly requested exclusion from the Settlement Class will be bound by any judgment entered in the lawsuit pursuant to the Settlement Agreements. If you properly and timely exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you will not be bound by any judgments or orders entered by the Court pursuant to the Settlement Agreements and you will not be eligible to receive any payments from the Net Settlement Fund if the Settlements are approved by the Court.

A fairness hearing will be held on September 17, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. before the Honorable Naomi Reice Buchwald, United States District Court Judge, in Courtroom 21A, at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse, located at 500 Pearl Street, New York, New York 10007, for the purpose of determining, among other things, whether to approve the proposed Settlements, the proposed Plan of Distribution, Class Counsel's request for attorneys' fees of up to one-third of the Settlement Fund, plus reimbursement of litigation expenses, and payment of service awards to the Settlement Class representatives of no more than $25,000 each. You or your own lawyer may appear and speak at the hearing at your own expense.

THIS IS ONLY A SUMMARY OF THE FULL NOTICE AND SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS, WHICH CONTAIN MORE DETAILED INFORMATION THAT YOU SHOULD READ. THE FULL NOTICE AND THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS ARE AVAILABLE AT www.USDLiborEurodollarSettlements.com.

Settlement Class Members should continue to review the settlement website for important updates about the Settlements and the litigation.  You may also contact the Settlement Administrator below (A.B. Data, Ltd.) to obtain additional information.

USD LIBOR EURODOLLAR FUTURES SETTLEMENT
c/o A.B. DATA, LTD.
P.O. BOX 170990
MILWAUKEE, WI  53217
www.USDLiborEurodollarSettlements.com
[email protected]
1-800-918-8964

¹ The aggregate Settlements, if all receive Final Approval from the Court, will create a $187,000,000 Settlement Fund.  Settling Defendants have separately agreed to settlements as follows:  BOA has agreed to pay $15 million; Barclays has agreed to pay $19.975 million; Citi has agreed to pay $33.4 million; Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $80 million; HSBC has agreed to pay $18.5 million; JPMorgan has agreed to pay $15 million; and Société Générale has agreed to pay $5,125,000.

SOURCE Kirby McInerney LLP and Lovell Stewart Halebian Jacobson LLP