FTC Capital GMBH v. Credit Suisse Group AG

Background

The order concerns exchange-based plaintiffs’ class action claims relating to trading in Eurodollar futures and options and alleged manipulation of U.S. Dollar London Interbank Offered Rate. The court addressed final approval of the settlement with HSBC Bank PLC. The order also referred to settlements involving other defendants, but this order’s dismissal provision specifically addressed the settling defendant and the HSBC settlement.

Settlement Class and Notice

For settlement purposes only, the court finally certified a class consisting of persons, corporations, and other legal entities—excluding defendants and specified related parties, releasees, and valid opt-outs—that traded Eurodollar futures or options on Eurodollar futures on exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, between January 1, 2003, and May 31, 2011.

The court reconfirmed that the class satisfied the applicable requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a) and Rule 23(b)(3) for settlement purposes. Those findings included numerosity, common legal and factual questions, typicality, adequate representation, and the superiority of a class action. The court designated Lovell Stewart Halebian Jacobson LLP and Kirby McInerney LLP as settlement class counsel for settlement purposes.

The court found that the mailed notice, publication notice, website, and other notice-program measures were the best practicable notice and reasonably informed class members about the action, their rights to opt out or object, the fairness hearing, the distribution plan, and the request for attorneys’ fees and expenses. The court confirmed A.B. Data, Ltd. as settlement administrator and found that the notice requirements under the Class Action Fairness Act and due process had been satisfied.

Ruling and Effects

The court found the settlement fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the settlement class under Rule 23(e)(2). It also found that the settlement resulted from arm’s-length negotiations and that the plaintiffs and settlement class counsel adequately represented the class for purposes of entering and implementing the settlement.

Except for individual claims by valid opt-outs, all settlement-class members, including the exchange-based plaintiffs, were bound by the settlement and the order. Their released claims against HSBC, HSBC Holdings PLC, and the other defined releasees were dismissed with prejudice and released. The release covered claims relating to the conduct alleged or that could have been alleged in the action concerning Eurodollar futures or options, including claims concerning alleged LIBOR manipulation or suppression and specified antitrust claims.

Valid opt-outs were excluded from the settlement, were not bound by the final order, and could not make a claim or receive a settlement benefit. Claims against nonsettling defendants were not dismissed and were not affected by this order. The parties were ordered to bear their own costs except as provided in the settlement agreement.

The court approved the settlement fund as a qualified settlement fund, approved the revised plan of distribution, and retained exclusive jurisdiction over implementing and enforcing the settlement, the settlement fund, and the final order. Class members’ released claims were released whether or not they submitted a claim, although a class member had to execute the required release and promise not to sue to receive a distribution.

The order stated that if the settlement did not become effective under the settlement agreement, the dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims, the class certification, and final settlement approval would be nullified or vacated as specified in the order, and the parties would be returned to their pre-settlement positions. The settlement and order did not admit liability, wrongdoing, or the truth of the claims. Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald signed the order on September 17, 2020.