European Government Bonds Antitrust Litigation

Defendants conspired to fix the prices of European Government Bonds in both the primary and secondary markets. Plaintiffs allege that this conduct, designed to raise European Government Bond prices and to depress yields, was carried out through several interrelated means. In the primary market, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants furthered this conspiracy by agreeing to artificially inflate European Government Bond prices at auction through a process known as “overbidding” and to otherwise coordinate their bidding strategies, thereby outbidding rivals and raising the benchmark for resale in the secondary market. In the secondary market, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants, in control of the supply of newly issued European Government Bonds, agreed to fix bid-ask spreads. This includes, Plaintiffs allege, agreeing on higher prices to charge investors for European Government Bonds. Defendants are alleged to have coordinated this scheme via online chatroom communications, where they explicitly fixed prices and bids and exchanged other sensitive, confidential information necessary to carry out the scheme.