Suit against Global Banks
A domestic company filed a class action suit against global banks in New York, US accusing them of “currency manipulation” and requesting compensation. This is the first time a Korean company has filed a class action suit against global banks in the US for currency manipulation.
On November 17 (local time), Kim and Bae, a law firm in New York specializing in legal actions in business, announced it has filed a class action suit for electronic parts company Simmtech against Barclays, Citi Group, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and JP Morgan Chase with the US District Court in the Southern District of New York.
The plaintiff claimed these banks have manipulated the currency against the US Sherman Act and New York’s commercial laws for prohibiting price-fixing among banks, causing tremendous losses to Korean enterprises.
Any domestic company or individual that has been affected by the exchange derivative and hedge products sold by the accused banks, such as knock-in-knock-out (KIKO), get plaintiffship. A lot of attention is gaining for this suit, as it will be a combined hearing with the class action suit filed against these banks by the Haverhill Retirement Board of Massachusetts in the US.
Haverhill has also requested several billion dollars in compensation for the losses caused by these banks and their currency manipulation. Currently, financial authorities of the US, UK, Switzerland, and Hong Kong are running international investigations on over ten large global banks about their participation in currency manipulation.
Some see this class action suit as a pressuring measure for the KIKO suit filed against Citi Bank’s headquarters by domestic companies. Since July, Citi Bank’s KIKO affiliates such as Simmtech, Sangbo, and Bujeon have been filing suits with the New York Court, demanding compensation for damage caused by the US headquarters managing, directing, and controlling KIKO product sales.
Chief Attorney Kim Bong-Joon of Kim and Bae said, “In European and Asian courts, banks which sold KIKO type products have been found guilty and punished,” and added, “We’ll have to keep our eyes on the results of the investigations by each country, but US values customer rights enough that this fight won’t be a losing one.”