In In Re: Municipal Derivatives Antitrust Litigation, Southern District of New York Judge Victor Marrero tossed out claims against 34 of the nation’s largest financial institutions accused of fixing prices of municipal derivatives in multidistrict litigation brought by over a dozen municipalities. The Court ruled that plaintiffs did not provide sufficient evidence for their allegations of bid-rigging, price-fixing, and allocating customers since 1) the mere fact that defendants are part of an industry that is purportedly rife with antitrust violations is not, without more, enough to state a claim; and 2) on-going FBI and IRS investigations of the companies are not enough to constitute evidence of a plot. The court gave plaintiffs 20 days to refile. Despite the ruling, the case continues against MGIC Investment Corp. and Bank of America N.A., which did not join the motion to dismiss. In January, Bank of America entered into an agreement with DOJ where, in exchange for cooperation with the DOJ, DOJ will not bring any criminal antitrust prosecution against it, which also shields Bank of America from potential treble damages in any civil antitrust suit brought against it arising from the investigation and qualifies it for relief from joint antitrust liability.
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