Contant v. Bank of America Corp. – Antitrust Class Action Settlement

Berger Montague, led by Michael Dell’Angelo, served as lead class counsel and obtained $23.63 million in settlements with the defendants in the multistate indirect purchaser antitrust class action, Contant, et al. v. Bank of America Corp., et al. The case was litigated in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants including 16 of the world’s largest dealer banks colluded to manipulate prices on foreign currency (“FX”) instruments, using a number of methods to carry out their conspiracy, including sharing confidential price and order information through electronic chat rooms, thereby enabling the defendants to coordinate pricing and eliminate price competition. As with prior bank rigging scandals involving conspiracies to manipulate prices on other financial instruments, the defendants’ alleged conspiracy to manipulate FX prices was the subject of numerous governmental investigations as well as direct purchaser class actions brought under antitrust federal law. The Contant action, however, was the first of such cases to bring claims under state indirect purchaser antitrust laws on behalf of state-wide classes of retail investors of those financial instruments whose claims had never been redressed.

On July 29, 2019, U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield granted preliminary approval of a $10 million settlement with Citigroup and a $985,000 settlement with MUFG Bank Ltd. On July 17, 2020, the court granted preliminary approval of three settlements with all remaining defendants for a combined $12.695 million. Each of the five settlements, totaling $23.63 million, received final approval on November 19, 2020. Payments to all authorized claimants were transmitted as of February 6, 2024.

If you have questions about your claim, please visit the claims administration website or contact the Claims Administrator at:

Contant, et al. v. Bank of America Corp., et al.

c/o Kroll Settlement Administration

P.O. Box 225391

New York, NY 10150-5391

1-844-245-3777

[email protected]

If you or your company has been harmed by anticompetitive conduct or any conduct that you believe violates the antitrust laws, please contact Berger Montague.

About Berger Montague

Berger Montague is a national law firm focusing on complex civil litigation in federal and state courts throughout the United States. For over half a century, Berger Montague has played lead roles in consequential, precedent-setting cases and has recovered over $50 billion for its clients and the classes they have represented. Berger Montague is headquartered in Philadelphia and has offices in Chicago, Minneapolis, San Diego, San Francisco, Toronto, and Washington, D.C.