by Jeremy HodgesÂ
(Bloomberg) – US law firms are queuing up to sue banks in London – inevitably the next act in the foreign-exchange rigging scandal that saw a $2 billion lawsuit settlement in New York.
Scott and Scott, a US-based law firm that has been talking to institutional investors to quantify the potential civil damages, said it’s opening a London office to capitalise on potential British suits that could be filed as early as the fall. Goldman Sachs Group Inc, HSBC Holdings Plc, and Barclays Plc were among a group of lenders that agreed last week to settle US investor lawsuits claiming the banks conspired to manipulate the $5.3 trillion-a-day foreign-exchange market.
“There is no doubt that anyone who traded FX in or through the London or Asian arkets will have suffered significant loss as a result of the actions of the banks,” Anthony Maton, a lawyer at Hausfeld in London whose firm was involved in the investor suits in the US, said in a statement. “Compensation for these losses will require concerted action in London.”
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Authorities in the US, Europe and Asia have pursued bank traders around the globe seeking evidence they conspired to fix financial benchmarks that affect everything from mortgages to retirement products to cross-border money flows. The probes have resulted in more than $10 billion in fines on top of the civil settlement last week.
Banks declined to comment or couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
