FTC Capital GMBH v. Credit Suisse Group AG
- Naomi Buchwald
- 1:11-cv-02613
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 18
In FTC Capital v. Credit Suisse, Judge Buchwald preliminarily approved settlements, notice procedures, and a fairness hearing for Eurodollar traders.
The order affected proposed settlement-class members who traded qualifying Eurodollar futures or options during the stated period, the seven settling defendants, the appointed class representatives and counsel, and the administration of the proposed $187 million settlements. Claims against nonsettling defendants were not resolved.
What happened
FTC Capital GMBH v. Credit Suisse Group AG concerns proposed settlements in a class action involving people and entities that traded Eurodollar futures or options between January 1, 2003, and May 31, 2011. The opinion’s caption instead identifies the related action as Metzler Investment GmbH v. Credit Suisse Group AG and lists the Exchange-Based Plaintiffs, including several FTC entities.
The settlements involved Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan, and Société Générale, with total proposed payments of $187 million. The order also set procedures for notifying potential class members, submitting claims, objecting, or asking to be excluded. Claims against defendants that did not settle were not resolved.
Judge Naomi Buchwald preliminarily approved the settlements and releases, preliminarily certified settlement classes for settlement purposes, approved the notice program and claim form, appointed class representatives and class counsel, and scheduled a fairness hearing. The order did not give final approval or decide the underlying antitrust claims.
The detailed version
- FTC Capital GMBH v. Credit Suisse Group AG · No. 1:11-cv-02613
- Naomi Buchwald
- Mar. 2, 2020
Background
The opinion is an order in the multidistrict litigation titled In re LIBOR-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation. The specific action identified in the opinion’s caption is Metzler Investment GmbH, et al. v. Credit Suisse Group AG, et al., No. 11 Civ. 2613. The supplied case name, FTC Capital GMBH v. Credit Suisse Group AG, does not match that caption; the opinion does list FTC Futures Fund SICAV and FTC Futures Fund PCC Ltd. among the Exchange-Based Plaintiffs.
The Exchange-Based Plaintiffs brought a putative class action on behalf of people and entities that traded Eurodollar futures or options on Eurodollar futures on exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, from January 1, 2003, through May 31, 2011. The proposed settlements were with Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan, and Société Générale. The order states that the settlements were separate and provided total cash consideration of $187 million: $15 million from Bank of America, $19.975 million from Barclays, $33.4 million from Citi, $80 million from Deutsche Bank, $18.5 million from HSBC, $15 million from JPMorgan, and $5.125 million from Société Générale.
Court’s actions
The court preliminarily approved the settlement agreements and their releases as fair, reasonable, and adequate for the settlement classes. Preliminary approval was not final approval. The order scheduled a fairness hearing at which the court could later consider final approval and entry of judgment.
For settlement purposes only, the court preliminarily certified the settlement classes and found that they satisfied the cited requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. The classes generally covered persons, corporations, and other entities that made the specified Eurodollar transactions during the class period, subject to exclusions stated in the order. The court appointed Metzler Asset Management GmbH, FTC Futures Fund SICAV, FTC Futures Fund PCC Ltd., Atlantic Trading USA, LLC, 303030 Trading LLC, Gary Francis, and Nathanial Haynes as class representatives. It appointed Lovell Stewart Halebian Jacobson LLP and Kirby McInerney LLP as settlement class counsel and appointed A.B. Data, Ltd. as claims administrator.
The court approved the proposed mail notice, summary notice, claim form, and notice program. The order required notices through mailings, publications, internet advertising, email, and a settlement website. Class members could object or request exclusion by following the stated procedures and deadlines. A person who submitted a valid and timely exclusion request would not share in the settlement funds or be bound by the settlements or resulting judgment. A class member seeking payment had to submit a claim form by the stated deadline unless the court ordered otherwise.
The court stayed proceedings against the settling defendants except for proceedings needed to carry out or enforce the settlements. It approved specified escrow agents and escrow accounts for the settlement funds and retained jurisdiction over matters relating to the proposed settlements. The order stated that the settlements did not resolve claims against nonsettling defendants and that the order and proposed settlements were not admissions or evidence of liability or wrongdoing.
Disposition and significance
Judge Naomi Buchwald preliminarily approved the settlements, approved the notice program, preliminarily certified settlement classes for settlement purposes, appointed class representatives and counsel, and scheduled a fairness hearing. The opinion does not state that the court granted final settlement approval, entered final judgment, or decided whether the alleged antitrust violations occurred.
Read the full 18-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.