In re Commodity Exch., Inc., Gold Futures & Options Trading Litig.

328 F. Supp. 3d 217
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedJuly 25, 2018
Docket14-MD-2548 (VEC); 14-MC-2548 (VEC)
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 328 F. Supp. 3d 217 (In re Commodity Exch., Inc., Gold Futures & Options Trading Litig.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Commodity Exch., Inc., Gold Futures & Options Trading Litig., 328 F. Supp. 3d 217 (S.D. Ill. 2018).

Opinion

VALERIE CAPRONI, United States District Judge:

Plaintiffs in these consolidated cases allege a conspiracy to fix the price of physical gold and gold-denominated financial instruments from 2004 to 2012. Until November 2014, the price of physical gold was set twice daily through a private auction involving some of the largest bullion banks in London. Plaintiffs allege that the afternoon "Gold Fixing"-also known as the "PM Fixing"-was a cover for a price-fixing conspiracy among the entity charged with operating the Gold Fixing, defendant London Gold Market Fixing Ltd. ("LGMF"), and the participant banks: The Bank of Nova Scotia ("BNS"), Barclays Bank plc ("Barclays"), Deutsche Bank AG ("DB"), HSBC Bank plc ("HSBC"), and Société Générale SA ("SocGen") (collectively, the "Fixing Banks").1 Plaintiffs have also named as a defendant UBS AG and its affiliates (together "UBS"). Although UBS was not a member of the Gold Fixing at any point during the alleged class period, Plaintiffs contend UBS conspired with the Fixing Banks to suppress the price of gold as determined by the PM Fixing.

Plaintiffs are individuals and entities that sold physical gold, gold futures traded on the Commodity Exchange, Inc. ("COMEX") market, shares in gold exchange-traded funds ("ETFs"),2 or options on gold ETFs during the Class Period. Seeking to recover alleged losses suffered as a result of Defendants' alleged manipulation and *220suppression of the price of gold through the gold "fixing" process, Plaintiffs bring putative class action claims for (1) unlawful restraint of trade in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. ; (2) market manipulation in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act ("CEA"), 7 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. and CFTC Rule 180.2; (3) employment of a manipulative or deceptive device and false reporting in violation of the CEA, 7 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. and CFTC Rule 180.1; (4) principal-agent liability under the CEA, 7 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. ; (5) aiding and abetting manipulation in violation of the CEA, 7 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. ; and (6) unjust enrichment.

Before the Court is UBS's motion to dismiss the Third Amended Complaint (Dkt. 266) (the "TAC"). In brief, UBS contends that its participation in a scheme to suppress the PM Fixing is implausible. According to UBS, the Fixing Banks, with their ready-made forum for collusion and substantial market power, had no reason to involve UBS in their alleged conspiracy. UBS also moves to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction over a Swiss entity, UBS AG. For the reasons that follow, the Court agrees that Plaintiffs' allegations against UBS are implausible. The motion to dismiss is granted.

BACKGROUND

The Court assumes familiarity with the prior proceedings in this case and the Court's prior opinion in In re Commodity Exch., Inc., Gold Futures and Options Trading Litig. , 213 F.Supp.3d 631 (S.D.N.Y. 2016) (" Gold I ") and the Court's memorandum order granting leave to amend, Dkt. 258 ("Gold II "). In recent years, the Gold Fix auction (which originated in 1919) has been conducted during a conference call among representatives of the five Fixing Banks. TAC ¶¶ 87-92. No third parties participated in the call, making it an almost perfect forum for collusion among competitors. The market-clearing price in the auction (the "Fix Price") was published as a benchmark price for physical gold. TAC ¶¶ 83-84. Because of a near-perfect correlation between prices for physical gold and gold derivatives, Plaintiffs allege that the Fix Price also effectively set the market price for gold futures, options, and forwards. TAC ¶¶ 112-22.

In support of their claims, Plaintiffs allege that there has been a persistent downward bias in gold prices immediately before and during the PM Fixing call. TAC ¶¶ 9, 27. From 2004 through 2012 (Plaintiffs' proposed class period), the spot price of gold decreased during the PM Fixing on between 60% and 80% of trading days, TAC ¶¶ 27, 123-25, even though, it is alleged, an efficient market would be equally likely to move upwards or downwards on a given day. TAC ¶¶ 128-29. The PM Fixing also registered as one of the most volatile periods in the trading day, TAC ¶¶ 145, 156-60, a phenomenon not seen around the morning or "AM" fixing, TAC ¶ 153. Plaintiffs' analysis further shows that the downward movement in the price of physical gold consistently began in the minutes before the PM Fixing call began, evidence, according to Plaintiffs, of coordinated trading based on foreknowledge of the Fix Price that would emerge from the auction. TAC ¶¶ 125, 145.

Plaintiffs also identified alleged patterns in the Defendants' price quotes, which, Plaintiffs contend, link them to anomalous pricing behavior observed around the PM Fixing. According to Plaintiffs, Defendants consistently quoted similar (or "bunched"), below market prices around the PM Fixing, a trend that was more pronounced on so-called "down days," i.e. , on days when the Fix Price was lower than the spot price of gold before the Fix Price was announced. TAC ¶¶ 209, 257-60, 262-65. On certain days identified by Plaintiffs, Defendants *221quoted prices that appeared to either cause or anticipate downward movement in the PM Fixing. TAC ¶¶ 268-74 & App'x. I. Plaintiffs also allege that Defendants employed manipulative trading tactics, like "spoofing," "wash sales," and "front-running" client orders, in order to further manipulate the price of physical gold and gold-denominated assets before and during the PM Fixing. TAC ¶ 10 & n.4. Notwithstanding the fact that UBS was not a member of the fixing panel at any point during the class period, Plaintiffs contend that UBS facilitated the conspiracy by using its large trading position to move the market in tandem with suppression of the Fix Price. See TAC ¶ 15 ("A single actor could not and would not have attempted to move the market so consistently. There would not have been enough 'ammo' to do so, and the risk (and cost) would have been too high."). Trading to create artificial downward momentum in the price of gold assisted the Fixing Banks by "altering the starting price, ..., and giving cover to an auction-rate that would otherwise have stood out like a sore thumb." TAC ¶ 10.

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Bluebook (online)
328 F. Supp. 3d 217, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-commodity-exch-inc-gold-futures-options-trading-litig-ilsd-2018.