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US: Aluminum price-fixing lawsuits trashed

By  |  September 1, 2014

A federal judge last Friday threw out antitrust lawsuits filed against Wall Street banks and other financial institutions over accusations the companies conspired to manipulate aluminum prices.

According to reports, US District Judge Katherine Forrest issued a decision that said there was no indication the defendants intended to manipulate aluminum prices by artificially restricting supplies, as they were accused. Goldman Sachs and Glencore, JPMorgan Chase and others were named as defendants in the case.

In her decision, Judge Forrest said that behavior by the defendants constituted “rational profit maximizing behavior rather than the product of conspirational design.”

Plaintiffs argued that the companies had horded aluminum in warehouses to reduce supply and drive up costs; the suits were first filed more than a year ago and then consolidated last December.

Full content: Reuters

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