By Jonathan Stamp
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs, German industrial conglomerate BASF and two other banks have agreed to pay $20 million to settle a nearly decade-old antitrust dispute accusing them of conspiring to suppress platinum and palladium prices.
A preliminary settlement of the planned class action lawsuit was filed Friday evening in U.S. District Court in Manhattan and is subject to judge approval.
HSBC and London-based ICBC Standard Bank are also among the defendants. All four defendants denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to a settlement.
Platinum and palladium are used in catalytic converters to reduce vehicle emissions, as well as in dentistry and jewelry manufacturing.
Buyers of platinum, palladium and futures contracts for these metals accused the defendants of conspiring between January 1, 2008 and November 30, 2014 to manipulate the twice-daily “fixings” for platinum and palladium by sharing customer data, anticipating expected price movements and placing fake “sham” orders.
Buyers said lower metal prices reduced the cost of platinum and palladium for banks and their customers and allowed banks to avoid losses on “short positions” they held in the futures markets.
The buyers’ lawyers described the agreement as an “excellent” result that was fair, reasonable and appropriate.
They plan to seek up to a third of the settlement amount, or $6.67 million, for legal fees and up to $600,000 for expenses.
The lawsuit is one of several in Manhattan court accusing major banks of collusion in various markets, including benchmark interest rates, U.S. Treasury bonds, currencies and commodities.
The case is In re: Platinum and Palladium Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 14-09391.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
