Barclays, SocGen $50 Million Gold Fix Settlement Gets First Nod

The traders leading antitrust litigation over an alleged scheme by five global financial institutions to rig the London gold “fix,” a key pricing benchmark, won preliminary approval from a federal judge in Manhattan for a $50 million settlement with Barclays Plc and three other banks.

Judge Valerie E. Caproni signed off tentatively late Thursday on the agreement with Barclays, Société Générale SA, Scotiabank, and London Gold Market Fixing Ltd., which would resolve class action claims against them in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Caproni also awarded more than $28 million in legal fees to the traders in connection with two earlier settlements, a $62 million deal with Deutsche Bank AG and a $42 million agreement with HSBC Holdings Plc.

The lawsuit, consolidated in 2014, accuses the financial institutions of conspiring to manipulate the century-old fix—which was set twice daily through London Gold, a multi-bank consortium—until the benchmark was revised in 2015.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and Berger Montague PC are co-lead counsel for the traders.

Barclays is represented by Allen & Overy LLP. SocGen is represented by Hogan Lovells US LLP. Scotiabank is represented by Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. London Gold is represented by Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP.

The case is In re Commodity Exch. Inc. Gold Futures & Options Trading Litig., S.D.N.Y., No. 14-md-2548, 1/13/22.