Order and Opinion Re Defendants' Motion to Dismiss
USDC SDNY UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DOCUMENT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ELECTRONICALLY FILED DOC #: _________________ DATE FILED: September______________ 27, 2018 IOWA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM; LOS ANGELES COUNTY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION; ORANGE COUNTY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM; SONOMA COUNTY EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION; and TORUS CAPITAL, LLC, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, -v.- MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH INC.; MERRILL LYNCH L.P. HOLDINGS, INC.; 17 Civ. 6221 (KPF) MERRILL LYNCH PROFESSIONAL CLEARING CORP.; CREDIT SUISSE AG; CREDIT SUISSE SECURITIES (USA) LLC; CREDIT SUISSE OPINION AND ORDER FIRST BOSTON NEXT FUND, INC.; CREDIT SUISSE PRIME SECURITIES SERVICES (USA) LLC; GOLDMAN SACHS & CO. LLC; GOLDMAN SACHS EXECUTION & CLEARING, L.P.; J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES LLC; J.P. MORGAN PRIME, INC.; J.P. MORGAN STRATEGIC SECURITIES LENDING CORP.; J.P. MORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.; MORGAN STANLEY & CO. LLC; PRIME DEALER SERVICES CORP.; STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS I, INC.; UBS AG; UBS AMERICAS INC., UBS SECURITIES LLC; UBS FINANCIAL SERVICES INC.; EQUILEND LLC; EQUILEND EUROPE LIMITED; and EQUILEND HOLDINGS LLC, Defendants. KATHERINE POLK FAILLA, District Judge: In a 398-paragraph complaint, Plaintiffs detail a wide-ranging conspiracy to prevent the antiquated stock loan market from evolving into a transparent, direct, all-to-all electronic exchange. This market is critical to the short selling of stocks, a not-uncommon investment tool. The thrust of Plaintiffs’ allegations is that Defendants conspired to boycott new market entrants — specifically, AQS, SL-x, and Data Explorers — in order to maintain their monopoly grip as prime broker intermediaries, and, by extension, to charge excessive fees under the cover of price opacity.
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