Cases : Commodities

• Case M&N Trading, LLC v. BofA Securities, Inc., Merrill Lynch, et al.,
  24-cv-1229 (N.D. Ill.)
• Type Commodities, Antitrust
• Status Pending

• Case In re Credit Default Swaps Auctions Litigation,
  No. 21-cv-00606 (D.N.M.).
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Pending
• We are acting as lead counsel on behalf of the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office and the New Mexico State Investment Council alleging that leading credit default swap (CDS) dealers took part in a more than decade-long, multibillion-dollar scheme to manipulate the benchmark prices used to value credit default swap contracts at settlement.

• Case In re North Sea Brent Crude Oil Futures Litigation,
  No. 13-md-02475 (S.D.N.Y.). 
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Pending
• Sole lead counsel on behalf of a proposed class of Brent crude oil futures traders alleging benchmark manipulation.

• Case Sullivan v. Barclays PLC,
  No. 13-cv-02811 (S.D.N.Y.). 
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Pending
• Class counsel in the benchmark rate antitrust litigation on behalf of a putative class of investors who traded derivative products linked to Euribor, including futures and options contracts on the NYSE LIFFE exchange. The case has already resulted in partial settlements of more than $300 million.

• Case Wacker v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.,
  No. 15-cv-00994 (S.D.N.Y.).  
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Pending
• Representation of individual silver futures traders alleging manipulation of silver futures spreads. KM achieved a landmark appellate decision in this case establishing pleading standards for monopolization claims in futures markets. The case preceded a related Department of Justice criminal investigation into J.P. Morgan that resulted in an over-$920 million criminal penalty.

• Case CFTC v. Shak,
  No. 14-cv-01632 (D.D.C.).  
• Type Commodities
• Status Pending
• Representation of a defendant in a case brought by the CFTC under the Commodity Exchange Act’s newest provisions for violations of an administrative order in the gold futures market.

• Case In re Bank of Nova Scotia Spoofing Litigation,
  No. 20-cv-11059 (D.N.J.). 
• Type Commodities
• Status Pending
• As a court-appointed executive committee member, the firm has served in a leadership capacity in this case which alleges that defendants manipulated precious metals futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Commodity Exchange, Inc. This matter is important in that it seeks to curb manipulative and abusive practices by dominant financial institutions and make metals futures markets more efficient.

• Case In re Cattle Antitrust Litigation,
  No. 19-cv-1222 (D. Minn.).
• Type Commodities
• Status Pending
• Court-appointed executive committee member and class counsel representing cattle producers and cattle futures traders in a lawsuit alleging that the “Big 4” meatpacking firms conspired to suppress prices for fed cattle and manipulated live cattle futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

• Case In re Commodity Exchange, Inc., Gold Futures and Options Trading Litigation,
  No. 14-md-02548 (S.D.N.Y.).  
• Type Commodities
• Status Pending
• Counsel for plaintiff on behalf of gold purchasers in a market manipulation case. The case has already resulted in partial settlements of $60 million.

• Case In re Deutsche Bank Spoofing Litigation,
  No. 20-cv-03638 (N.D. Ill.). 
• Type Commodities
• Status Pending
• Co-lead counsel on behalf of a putative class of investors in this trading markets manipulation case alleging manipulation through “spoofing” of U.S. Treasury futures traded on the Chicago Board of Trade and Eurodollar futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. This matter is important because it seeks to curb manipulative and abusive practices by dominant financial institutions and make Treasury futures markets more efficient.

• Case In re Natwest Treasury Futures Spoofing Litigation,
  No. 22-cv-00479 (N.D. Ill.).
• Type Commodities
• Status Pending
• Co-lead counsel on behalf of a putative class of investors in a trading markets manipulation case alleging manipulation through “spoofing” of U.S. Treasury futures. This matter is important in that it seeks to curb manipulative and abusive practices by dominant financial institutions and make Treasury futures markets more efficient.

• Case Dennis v. The Andersons, Inc.,
  No. 20-cv-04090 (N.D. Ill.).
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Pending
• Co-lead counsel of a putative class of exchange-based investors alleging monopolization and manipulation of Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat futures contracts in violation of federal antitrust and commodity exchange laws.

• Case In re JPMorgan Treasury Futures Spoofing Litigation, 
  No. 20-cv-03515 (S.D.N.Y.).
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Settled
• Lead counsel in an antitrust case alleging that J.P. Morgan unlawfully and intentionally manipulated U.S. Treasury Futures or Options on U.S. Treasury Futures traded on United States-based exchanges, including but not limited to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, including its subsidiary the Chicago Board of Trade, during the Class Period in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act, 7 U.S.C. §§ 1, et seq. (the “CEA”) and the common law.  The case resulted in a settlement of $15.7 million.

• Case CFTC Whistleblower Award,
  No. 21-WB-07
• Type Antitrust, CFTC Whistleblower, Commodities, False Claims Act, Whistleblower
• Status Settled
• KM represented the whistleblower who received nearly $200 million, the largest CFTC whistleblower award ever and the second largest whistleblower award arising under the Dodd-Frank and IRS whistleblower programs. The information the whistleblower provided catalyzed investigations by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a U.S. federal regulator, and a foreign regulator into the manipulation of crucial financial benchmarks used by global banks as the basis for the pricing of fixed income securities and derivative products.  The CFTC initially rejected the whistleblower’s award application, but KM's advocacy resulted in a successful appeal for the client.

• Case In re Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation, 
  No. 13-cv-07789 (S.D.N.Y.).
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Settled
• Special fiduciary representation for the exchange-based class for a putative class of participants who traded futures and options in the FX market. The case has already resulted in partial settlements of more than $2.3 billion.

• Case In re Crude Oil Commodity Futures Litigation, 
  No. 11-cv-03600 (S.D.N.Y.).  
• Type Commodities
• Status Settled
• Class counsel on behalf of WTI crude oil futures purchasers in a market manipulation case.  The case resulted in a settlement of $16.5 million.

• Case In re LIBOR-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation,
  No. 11-md-02262 (S.D.N.Y.). 
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Settled
• KM filed the first LIBOR manipulation lawsuit on behalf of investors and currently serves as court-appointed co-lead counsel for the exchange-based class alleging the fixing of prices of a benchmark interest rate. The case has resulted in partial settlements of $187 million, which combined represent the largest recovery in a “futures-only” commodities class action litigation.

• Case In re BP Propane Indirect Purchaser Antitrust Litigation,
  No. 06-cv-03541 (N.D. Ill.). 
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Settled
• Co-lead counsel for the propane purchaser class. KM secured a $15 million settlement.

• Case In re Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) Antitrust and Patent Litigation and Related Actions,
  No. 05-cv-01671 (C.D. Cal). 
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Settled
• Co-lead counsel in an antitrust class action pertaining to Unocal’s alleged manipulation of the standard-setting process for low-emissions reformulated gasoline in California, which plaintiffs claim caused inflated retail prices. KM obtained a $48 million settlement for indirect purchasers.

• Case In re Potash Antitrust Litigation,
  No. 08-cv-06910 (N.D. Ill.).  
• Type Antitrust, Commodities
• Status Settled
• Member of the leadership group which secured a $13 million settlement for a class of potash purchasers.