Plaintiffs allege that, from January 1, 2004 through June 30, 2013 inclusive (the “Settlement Class Period”), the Settling
Defendants conspired with Barclays Bank plc, Société Générale SA, The Bank of Nova Scotia, and The London Gold
Market Fixing Limited (together, “Non-Settling Defendants”) to drive down the price of gold around the time of a daily,
secret, and unregulated afternoon meeting (the “PM Gold Fix”).
The PM Gold Fix was intended to determine the global
benchmark price per ounce of gold (the “Fix price”) based on supply and demand fundamentals stemming from a
competitive gold auction among the Fixing members. However, Defendants allegedly capitalized on the lack of regulatory
oversight and the private nature of the PM Gold Fix to facilitate Defendants’ agreement to manipulate and fix gold prices
and the prices of Gold Investments during the Settlement Class Period. Defendants’ conduct harmed other market
participants like Plaintiffs and the Settlement Class.
“Gold Investments” means
(i) gold bullion, gold bullion coins, gold
ingots, gold bars, or any other form of physical gold
(ii) gold futures contracts in transactions conducted in whole or in part
on COMEX or any other exchange operated in the United States
(iii) shares in gold ETFs
(iv) gold call options in
transactions conducted over-the-counter or in whole or in part on COMEX or any other exchange operated in the United
States
(v) gold put options in transactions conducted over-the-counter or in whole or in part on COMEX or any other
exchange operated in the United States, and
(vi) gold spot, gold forwards, or gold swaps traded over-the-counter
