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US: Judge declines to dismiss mega credit swap price-fixing suit

By  |  September 4, 2014

A federal judge on Thursday denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses 12 banks of price-fixing and manipulating the credit default swaps market, though she did narrow the scope of the suit.

According to reports, US District Judge Denise Cote dismissed some antitrust claims against the banks, though not all of them.

Damages could reach into the tens of billions of dollars now that the suit is allowed to proceed, reports say.

Defendants, which include Bank of America, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and other major financial institutions, are accused of conspiring to restrain competition within the credit default swaps industry. Plaintiffs argue that the banks unfairly hiked transaction prices through the collusion.

The suit was filed on behalf of investors of the swaps from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2013.

Full content: Reuters

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