Kirstin Ridley

LONDON, (Reuters) – A multi-billion pound lawsuit brought by thousands asset managers, pension funds, and financial institutions against large banks for alleged forex rigging was blocked by a London Court.

London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal, (CAT), was examining the case against JPMorgan. Citigroup (NYSE:), Barclays (LON :), UBS, NatWest, since last July, decided that Thursday’s case wasn’t suitable for a U.S.-style opt-out class-action.

This lawsuit was initiated by the European Commission, which fined banks $11.11 billion ($1 billion) in 2019, for two forex cartels between 2007-2013.

Michael O’Higgins (the former chair of The Pensions Regulator in Britain) and Phillip Evans (an ex-inquiry chair at The Competition Markets Authority), were vying for a leadership role in a class action to benefit financial claimants.

O’Higgins indicated that the team was considering its options.

“This decision was extremely disappointing because it is precisely the kind of claim that the opt-out procedures were designed to facilitate, in order to give access to justice to any entity affected by illegal cartelist behaviour,” he stated.

We are currently reviewing all options in order to determine how we can best serve the class we want to represent.

Representatives from the banks could not be reached immediately for comment.

($1 = 0.9021 euros)