On May 8, 2018, the Honorable Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn of the Southern District of New York appointed Berman Tabacco to a two-firm Executive Committee to lead the prosecution of the Canadian Dollar Offered Rate case. The case is Fire & Police Pension Assoc. of Colorado. v. Bank of Montreal, et al., No. 1:18-CV-00342 (S.D.N.Y.).
Berman Tabacco represents Fire & Police Pension Association of Colorado in this class action against various banks alleging they unlawfully conspired to increase the profitability of their derivatives trading business by manipulating the Canadian Dealer Offered Rate (“CDOR”) during the period of at least August 9, 2007 through at least June 30, 2014. The CDOR is an interest rate benchmark created by the Canadian Bankers’ Association that was intended to reflect the cost of borrowing Canadian dollars in North America. As alleged, the defendant banks conspired to suppress CDOR by making artificially lower submissions that did not reflect the true rate at which Canadian dollars were being offered in North America.
The case is the first action alleging manipulation of CDOR and has received extensive press attention, including coverage in The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.
The case is being litigated by Berman Tabacco Partners Nicole Lavallee, Todd Seaver and Patrick Egan.