Nomura International Wins Dismissal of Putative Antitrust Class Action Suits

On August 24, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a consolidated putative class action lawsuit brought by plaintiffs led by the Iron Workers Pension Plan of Western Pennsylvania and the Sheet Metal Workers Pension Plan of Northern California against several defendants, including Cravath client Nomura International plc, alleging collusion and price fixing among numerous financial institutions of supranational, sub‑sovereign and agency bonds. In the opinion, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos granted the defendants’ December 2017 motion to dismiss the complaint for failure plausibly to allege antitrust injury, noting that the injury alleged by plaintiffs was “too implausible to state an antitrust claim.”

The Cravath team included partner John D. Buretta and associates Tara Ganapathy and Allison Kempf. The case is In re: SSA Bonds Antitrust Litigation, No. 16‑03711 (S.D.N.Y.).