RBS 2014 Annual Report Download - page 107

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RBS – Interim Results 2015
Notes
16. Litigation, investigations and reviews (continued)
Credit default swap antitrust litigation
Certain members of the Group, as well as a number of other financial institutions, are defendants in a
consolidated antitrust class action pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New
York. The plaintiffs allege that defendants violated the US antitrust laws by restraining competition in the
market for credit default swaps through various means and thereby causing inflated bid-ask spreads for
credit default swaps. In September 2014, the Court denied the defendants' motion to dismiss this matter. The
RBS defendants have reached an agreement to settle this matter, subject to documentation and approval of
the Court. The settlement amount is covered by existing provisions.
FX antitrust litigation
RBS and RBS Securities Inc., as well as a number of other financial institutions, are defendants in a
consolidated antitrust class action on behalf of US based plaintiffs that is pending in the United States
District Court for the Southern District of New York. On 28 January 2015, the court denied the defendants’
motion to dismiss this action, holding that plaintiffs who entered into Foreign Exchange (FX) transactions
with RBS or other defendant banks could proceed with their claims that defendants violated the US antitrust
laws by conspiring to manipulate the foreign exchange market by manipulating benchmark foreign exchange
rates. RBS and RBS Securities Inc. have reached an agreement to settle the claims that are or could be
asserted by these plaintiffs in relation to this matter, subject to execution of a final settlement agreement and
approval of the Court. The settlement amount is covered by existing provisions.
Certain members of the Group are also defendants in additional foreign-exchange related class action
complaints, including several complaints filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of
New York on behalf of investors that transacted in exchange-traded foreign exchange futures contracts
and/or options on foreign exchange futures contracts, and a complaint on behalf of employee benefit plans
that entered into FX transactions, which was also filed in the United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York. These complaints contain allegations that are substantially similar to those contained in
the consolidated antitrust class action described above, and in addition to antitrust claims, also assert claims
under the Commodities Exchange Act, and claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The
claims in these cases are, in some instances, duplicative of the claims that would be released as part of the
agreement to settle reached in the above consolidated antitrust action.
US Treasury securities antitrust litigation
In July 2015, several class action antitrust complaints were filed in the United States District Court for the
Southern District of New York against a number of primary dealers of US Treasury securities, including RBS
Securities Inc. The complaints allege that the defendants rigged the US Treasury securities auction bidding
process to deflate prices at which they bought such securities and colluded to increase the prices at which
they sold such securities to plaintiffs. The complaints assert claims under the US antitrust laws and the
Commodities Exchange Act on behalf of persons who transacted in US Treasury securities or derivatives
based on such instruments, including futures and options.