Overview

Case Number: No. 1:14-cv-09391 (GHW)

Practice Area: Antitrust

Case Status: Pending

Court: United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

On March 20, 2015, the Honorable Gregory H. Woods of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York appointed Berger Montague as co-lead counsel in these consolidated class actions on behalf of traders of platinum and palladium-based derivative contracts, physical platinum and palladium, and platinum and palladium-based securities against BASF, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and ICBC Standard Bank (collectively, the “Fixing Banks” or “defendants”). The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and is captioned In re: Platinum and Palladium Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:14-cv-09391 (GHW) (S.D.N.Y).

The Fixing Banks were all members of The London Platinum and Palladium Fixing Company, Ltd., which conducted the London Platinum and Palladium Fixings. The London Platinum and Palladium Fixings were a twice daily process where the defendants set an important benchmark price for platinum and palladium. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants conspired to manipulate this benchmark for their collective benefit. The plaintiffs further allege that they were injured because the defendants’ manipulation caused prices for platinum and palladium-based derivatives contracts, physical platinum and palladium, and platinum and palladium-based securities to be made artificial.

In March 2017, Judge Woods denied in part and granted in part the defendants’ motion to dismiss. Plaintiffs sought to replead certain claims that were dismissed. The plaintiffs filed their third amended complaint in May 2017 which Judge Woods ultimately dismissed, and the plaintiffs appealed.

On February 27, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned a significant portion of the district court’s ruling, finding that “as traders in that market, the Exchange Plaintiffs” possessed antitrust standing because they “are the most efficient enforcers of the antitrust laws for that injury.” In addition to reversing the district court’s ruling on antitrust standing for exchange-trader plaintiffs, the Second Circuit vacated the district court’s dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims that the defendants had violated the Commodities Exchange Act, ruling that the plaintiffs had alleged sufficient domestic activity to survive the foreign defendants’ motion to dismiss on those claims. The appeals court also affirmed the district court’s exercise of personal jurisdiction over the foreign defendants. The litigation is ongoing.

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.

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