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US: Oil-rigging lawsuit expands defendant list

By  |  April 30, 2014

A lawsuit accusing various companies of colluding to manipulate the Brent crude oil benchmark has expanded, adding Mercuria Energy Group and Hess Corp as defendants.

A group of investors is suing various companies, including Morgan Stanley and Vitol Group, for the alleged conspiracy; plaintiffs say the collusion lasted for more than a decade, artificially manipulating the cost of crude oil for more than half the planet.

More than one dozen lawsuits have been filed related to the charges.

Plaintiffs filed a new complaint earlier this week, reports say, that states, “by providing false or inaccurate information and engaging in false or sham trading, defendants undermined the entire pricing structure for the Brent crude oil physical and futures markets.”

Full content: Bloomberg

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