Bank of America instructs Shearman & Sterling disputes head for forex lawsuit
Shearman & Sterling has landed a major advisory role for Bank of America on a sprawling US lawsuit over alleged rates rigging in the foreign exchange market.
A filing earlier this month shows a New York-based group of Shearman lawyers, led by litigation group global head Adam Hakki, has been added to the docket for Bank of America Corporation and Bank of America NA, listed as separate defendants in the lawsuit.
The other Shearman lawyers acting for Bank of America are the firm’s litigation practice deputy leader Richard Schwed and associate Jeffrey Resetartis.
In March, Legal Week revealed several of the major instructions won by law firms in the consolidated class action against a raft of banks, filed by pension funds in the US.
Since then, advisers for both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been added to the docket, with Goldman instructing a Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton team that includes partners Leah Brannon and George Cary in Washington DC and Victor Hou and Thomas Moloney in New York.
Morgan Stanley has turned to a Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz team led by partner Jonathan Moses and associate Keia Cole.
Allen & Overy, the only UK-headquartered firm listed in the filing, is acting for BNP Paribas, while HSBC has instructed Locke Lord. Of the other UK-headquartered banks, the Royal Bank of Scotland has turned to Davis Polk & Wardwell, while Barclays is being represented by Sullivan & Cromwell.
Other firms advising include Covington & Burling for Citigroup, Cahill Gordon & Reindel for Credit Suisse, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom for JP Morgan and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher for UBS.
Several of the firms listed above are also advising the banks on Libor-related class actions in the US.
On the plaintiffs’ side, the case is being brought by class action specialists Scott + Scott alongside a New York-based team at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.
The lawsuit, which is being heard in the Southern District of New York by Judge Lorna Schofield, also lists the United States Department of Justice as an interested party.
Authorities in both the UK and US are investigating suggestions some traders have colluded to artificially fix the £3 trillion-a-day foreign exchange market over several years.
In the City, a number of litigation outfits including Linklaters, Herbert Smith Freehills, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Stephenson Harwood have also taken roles for individuals and financial institutions in relation to the allegations, which Bank of England governor Mark Carney earlier this year said are “as serious as Libor, if not more so”.
The Bank of England (BoE) appointed One Essex Court’s Lord Grabiner QC and Travers Smith to review its conduct in the foreign exchange market, in response to allegations that the central bank knew of the alleged rigging.
On June 17, the BoE’s annual accounts revealed its legal spend ballooned to £5m in 2013-14.
Source: LW
