S&C Obtains Appellate Victory for Barclays in LIBOR Antitrust Case

The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of an antitrust complaint brought by individual plaintiffs against S&C client Barclays and other banks involved in the calculation of the U.S. dollar London Interbank Offered Rate (USD LIBOR)-a benchmark interest rate that was used in various financial products worth hundreds of trillions of dollars.

Plaintiffs asserted the novel theory that defendants' mere participation in the publicly disclosed process used to set USD LIBOR amounted to a conspiracy to "fix" the prices of variable interest rate loans in the United States in violation of the Sherman Act. Plaintiffs sought sweeping remedies, including treble damages, an injunction prohibiting the enforcement of the trillions of dollars of financial products that incorporate USD LIBOR, disgorgement to the U.S. Treasury of any "unlawful profits," and "dismemberment" of the defendants.

In its December 9 ruling, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of the complaint for failure to adequately plead personal jurisdiction over the foreign defendants, and antitrust standing as to the U.S. defendants. With respect to personal jurisdiction, the Ninth Circuit held that the district court properly considered the foreign defendants' declarations demonstrating that USD LIBOR was set in London. On antitrust standing, the Ninth Circuit emphasized key deficiencies in the plaintiffs' complaint, including the absence of any direct injury, the speculative nature of damages, and the lack of allegations of specific intent. S&C took a leading role in drafting the motion to dismiss and the appellate brief.

The S&C team that represented Barclays included Jeff Scott, Adam Paris, Matt Porpora, Jonathan Carter, Stephen Clarke, Mark Popovsky, Arturo Schultz, Gulliver Brady, Robbie Jones, Brian Gottlieb, Krystal Valentin, Alyx Brannan, and Nino Dickersin.