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Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

Issue: False foreign exchange rates

In re Bank of New York Mellon Corp. Foreign Exchange Transactions Fraud Litigation

Lieff Cabraser is one of three firms serving on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in consolidated litigation against The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (“BNY Mellon”) and its predecessors and subsidiaries, in which plaintiffs allege that defendants charged custodial customers fictitious foreign currency exchange (“FX”) rates in connection with the purchase and sale of foreign securities.

The actions allege that for the past decade, defendants consistently incorporated hidden and excessive mark-ups or mark-downs relative to the actual FX rates applicable at the times of the trades conducted for defendants’ custodial FX clients, and that defendants allegedly kept for themselves, as an unlawful profit, the difference between the false and actual price for each FX transaction.

In addition to serving on Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, Lieff Cabraser is also co-lead class counsel for a proposed nationwide class of affected custodial customers of BNY Mellon, including public pension funds, ERISA funds, and other public and private institutions.

Prior to the cases being transferred and consolidated in the Southern District of New York, Lieff Cabraser defeated, in its entirety, BNY Mellon’s motion to dismiss claims brought on behalf of ERISA and other funds under California’s and New York’s consumer protection laws.

Additional clients and proposed class representatives in the consolidated litigation, in which discovery is currently proceeding, include the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund and the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio.

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