Today, on behalf of our client the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Pension Plan, the Kehoe Law Firm announces the filing of a Consolidated Class Action Complaint alleging a conspiracy to fix the prices for Mexican Government Bonds issued by the Mexican government through the Bank of Mexico (“Banxico”).
Defendants include Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Bank of America Corporation, JPMorgan Chase Bank, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities plc, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A., BBVA Securities, Inc., BBVA-Bancomer, Banco Santander, S.A., Santander Investment Bolsa, Sociedad de Valores, S.A., HSBC Bank PLC, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Citibank, N.A., Barclays Bank PLC, Banco Barclays S.A., Barclays Capital Securities Limited, Barclays Capital Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, and ING Financial Markets LLC.
The complaint alleges that the defendant banks used their dominant position as the exclusive government-approved market makers in the Mexican Government Bond market to unlawfully increase the profitability of their MGB trading and sales businesses. In April 2017, Mexico’s antitrust regulator, the Comisión Federal de Competencia Económica (“COFECE”), announced that it had uncovered evidence of anticompetitive conduct among defendants in the Mexican Government Bond market.
Information leaked from COFECE’s investigation in May 2017, revealed that it had accepted at least one defendant into its cartel leniency program after that defendant admitted to participating in a conspiracy to fix Mexican Government Bond prices and agreed to provide evidence against its co-conspirators in exchange for a reduced penalty.
Mexico’s securities regulator, the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (“CNBV”), independently confirmed COFECE’s findings. CNBV announced in August 2017 that it was proceeding with its investigation of misconduct in the Mexican Government Bond market based on additional evidence it uncovered of collusion among the defendants.
For more information about Kehoe Law Firm and its involvement in this matter, please contact John A. Kehoe at [email protected] or call (215) 792-6676.