A Manhattan federal judge ruled on Wednesday to allow a case filed by U.S. pension funds accusing a group of banks of conspiring to rig the prices of Mexican government bonds to move forward, citing chatroom transcripts between traders as evidence of collusion.
U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken denied the banks’ request to dismiss the case, finding that the pension funds had presented enough direct evidence to allege an antitrust conspiracy under the Sherman Act. The judge emphasized that despite the use of market slang by the traders, the transcripts clearly showed agreements to manipulate the bond prices.
In one instance, a 2010 chat between a Barclays Mexico trader and a Deutsche Bank Mexico trader revealed a conversation in which the Barclays trader instructed the Deutsche Bank trader to “raise it,” referring to a type of Mexican government bond (MGB) maturing in 2038. The Deutsche Bank trader responded affirmatively, according to the order. Another 2012 exchange between a JPMorgan Mexico trader and a Citibanamex trader further demonstrated collusion, with the JPMorgan trader warning that lowering prices would harm them, to which the Citibanamex trader agreed to avoid doing so.
