A PYMNTS Company

US: Nova Scotia and HSBC face silver fix claims

By  |  October 5, 2016

A US judge said gold investors may pursue much of their lawsuit accusing four major banks of conspiring for a decade to fix prices and exploit distortions at the expense of investors in global markets for the precious metal.

Antitrust and manipulation claims can move forward against Barclays, Bank of Nova Scotia, HSBC Holdings and Societe Generale, US District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan said in a decision made public on Tuesday.

Investors allege that the banks conspired from 2004 to 2013 to fix prices. They did not estimate the size of the banks’ gold portfolios, but said the gold derivatives market alone was as large as $650 billion during the class period.

“From the gold plaintiffs’ standpoint, it’s a very substantial victory,” Dan Brockett, a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan representing the investors, said in a phone interview on Wednesday.

Full Content: Reuters

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.