GSE Bonds Antitrust Litigation

On February 22, 2019, Berman Tabacco, with co-counsel, filed the first of many complaints filed in this action (City of Birmingham Ret. and Relief Sys. v. Bank of American, N.A., No. 19-cv-1704 JSR (S.D.N.Y.)), on behalf of its clients Electrical Workers Pension Fund Local 103, I.B.E.W. and Local 103, I.B.E.W. Health Benefit Plan, along with plaintiff City of Birmingham Retirement and Relief Fund, against certain defendants, who are dealers of bonds issued by Government Sponsored Entities (or “GSEs”), specifically, Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”). During the class period, defendants were the largest players in the process that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac use to issue the GSE bonds, which gave defendants control over supply of GSE Bonds ultimately available to investors. As a result of defendants’ practices, the prices of GSE bonds were inflated. Defendants thus colluded to manipulate GSE bond prices in the secondary market to extract profits for themselves at the expense of plaintiff investors. The Third Amended Complaint was filed on September 10, 2019 and the motions to dismiss this complaint have been denied in full. The case has settled in the total amount of $386.5 million. Final approval to all settlements was granted June 16, 2020.