Antitrust

Issue: Manipulation of LIBOR rates

Schwab Short-Term Bond Market Fund, et al. v. Bank of America Corp., et al., No. 11 CV 6409 (S.D.N.Y.); Charles Schwab Bank, N.A., et al. v. Bank of America Corp., et al., No. 11 CV 6411 (S.D.N.Y.); Schwab Money Market Fund, et al. v. Bank of America Corp., et al., No. 11 CV 6412 (S.D.N.Y.); The Charles Schwab Corp., et al. v. Bank of America Corp., et al., No. 13 CV 7005 (S.D.N.Y.); and Bay Area Toll Authority v. Bank of America Corp., et al., No. 14 CV 3094 (S.D.N.Y.). 

Lieff Cabraser served as counsel for The Charles Schwab Corporation, its affiliates Charles Schwab Bank, N.A., and Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., and several series of The Charles Schwab Family of Funds, Schwab Investments, and Charles Schwab Worldwide Funds plc (collectively, “Schwab”), as well as the Bay Area Toll Authority (“BATA”), in individual lawsuits against Bank of America Corporation, Credit Suisse Group AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., and other defendants for allegedly manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”). 

The complaints alleged that beginning in 2007, the defendants conspired to understate their true costs of borrowing, causing the calculation of LIBOR to be set artificially low.  As a result, Schwab and BATA received less than their rightful rates of return on their LIBOR-based investments.  The complaints asserted claims under federal and state antitrust laws as well as other statutory and common law claims.  The actions were transferred to the Southern District of New York as part of coordinated multidistrict proceedings.  As a result of numerous rulings by the district court and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, certain of Schwab’s and BATA’s claims were upheld at the pleading stage and others were dismissed.  After reaching favorable settlements with a number of the defendants, in 2024 Schwab and BATA settled or otherwise dismissed their remaining claims.