Class-Action Suits May End with Payouts to Cheated Precious Metals Investors / Commodities / Gold & Silver 2019
Gold and silver investors have been watching the Department ofJustice investigation of criminal price rigging at JPMorgan Chase andother bullion banks carefully. Several crooked traders have pled guilty to“spoofing” the markets and more have been indicted.
The DOJ has even suggested the banks have been engagedin racketeering. Prosecutors may use RICO laws designed for taking downorganized crime syndicates to prosecute these shady Wall Street firms.
The banks’ problems go beyond the prospect of prison time forthe perpetrators and criminal fines, however.
Another of the troubles with running a years-long,well-organized and widespread scheme in which banks cooperated with one anotherto stick it to their clients and other naive people speculating in the futuresmarket is that it creates a large class of victims.
Now they eagerly await their opportunity to seek justice incivil court. And they will be able to present citizen juries with numerouscriminal convictions and mountains of evidence procured by the JusticeDepartment. The civil liability for the banks involved could be enormous,particularly if punitive damages are involved.
There are multiple class action suits underway. To get anupdate, Money Metals spoke to Christian Levis, an attorney with LoweyDannenberg. His firm has been designated lead counsel for three class actionsuits. U.S. based investors with related claims will be consolidated in one ofthree classes with this firm out front.
Here is a breakdown of the three suits being pursued by LoweyDannenberg;
London Silver Fixing: A handful ofmajor banks were involved in a scheme to rig the London Silver “Fix” – a keybenchmark price. This class action will likely include any person who purchasedor sold silver during the class period which was from 2009 - 2015approximately.
This includes people who invested in physical silver coins, rounds,and bars during that time.
Deutsche Bank already settled and agreed to pay $38 million.However, none of these funds are being dispersed yet. The litigation against agroup of other bullion banks is ongoing.
The case against these other banks is still in the discoverystage, which means it could be some time – perhaps a few years – before averdict (or settlement) is reached and damages are awarded.
The remaining banks could wind up getting hit harder thanDeutsche Bank because Deutsche was the first to settle and agree to cooperate.
Berger Montague and Quinn Emanuel, separate law firms, are leadcounsel in a companion case for rigging the London Gold Fixing.
Price Spoofing – JPMorgan: Plaintiffs aresuing JPMorgan Chase specifically for rigging metals prices in the futuresmarkets, but their suit is currently "stayed." The Justice Departmenthas asked the court to delay the civil proceedings while the bank remains undercriminal investigation.
The delay may frustrate some investors, but it definitely has asilver lining. The evidence and results of the DOJ criminal prosecution will bevery helpful to plaintiffs.
At the moment, it looks like this class will be limited to peoplewho were hurt trading precious metals future contracts (gold, silver,platinum and palladium), not physical metal but the case may be expanded in thefuture.
Price Spoofing – Bank of America: This suit isfollows BofA’s $25 million settlement with the Justice Department.
Like the JPMorgan litigation, the class also appears as if itwill be limited to futures market participants only at this time.
When asked about what metals investors with a potential claimshould be doing, Levis says that you should gather and hang on to yourtransaction records for any purchase and sales during the past decade. Thosewould be needed later to demonstrate you are a member of the class and file aclaim in any settlement.
Down the road (probably years), we expect there will be websitesand procedures set up to help people join the class and receive any settlementsdue.
Money Metals Exchange remains committed to following thisstory closely and keeping our readers posted.
By Clint Siegner
Clint Siegner is a Director at MoneyMetals Exchange,perhaps the nation's fastest-growing dealer of low-premium precious metalscoins, rounds, and bars. Siegner, a graduate of Linfield College in Oregon,puts his experience in business management along with his passion for personalliberty, limited government, and honest money into the development of MoneyMetals' brand and reach. This includes writing extensively on the bullionmarkets and their intersection with policy and world affairs.
© 2019 Clint Siegner - All Rights Reserved
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