A London court on Tuesday rekindled a lawsuit seeking £2.7 billion ($3.5 billion) against major banks, including JPMorgan (JPM.N) and Citigroup (C.N), over alleged foreign exchange rigging. The case, originally initiated by Phillip Evans, former chair of Britain’s Competition Markets Authority, represents thousands of asset managers, pension funds, and financial institutions.
Evans pursued the lawsuit, which also involves UBS, Barclays, NatWest, and MUFG, on an opt-out basis, allowing potential claimants to be automatically included unless they choose to opt out.
Last year, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled that the claims must be brought on an opt-in basis, making them practically unviable. However, the Court of Appeal has now overturned that decision, giving the green light for the case to proceed at the CAT.
Anthony Maton, Evans’s lawyer from law firm Hausfeld, said in a statement, “A judgment of this nature was required for all those UK businesses – big and small – who have suffered loss as a result of the manipulation of the FX markets to achieve restitution.”
It is reported that Both JP Morgan and UBS declined to make any comment , while the other banks have yet to respond to the recent developments.
Evans’s case is founded on the European Commission’s findings, which imposed fines exceeding 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in 2019 on banks involved in rigging the multitrillion-dollar foreign exchange market between 2007 and 2013.
The lawsuit has the potential to result in a significant financial impact, as some of the world’s largest investment banks have previously paid more than $11 billion combined in fines to settle allegations of manipulating currency rates across the United States, Britain, and Europe.
