Today, United States District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan issued LIBOR VII, in which the court granted class certification under Rule 23(b)(3) to a class of plaintiffs who bought over-the-counter instruments that paid interest in terms of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and who allege that LIBOR-setting banks conspired to suppress LIBOR during the 2007-09 financial crisis.

The court declined to certify the OTC plaintiffs’ state-law claims or any claims by two other plaintiff groups. See LIBOR VII.

Plaintiffs started filing actions alleging LIBOR suppression in 2011. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized the federal cases in the Southern District of New York before Judge Buchwald later that year.

The litigation has produced seven major rulings by the district court, two by the Second Circuit, and one by the Supreme Court. The later Second Circuit opinions came out last week. See Charles Schwab Corp. v. Bank of Am. Corp., No. 16-1189-cv (2d Cir. Feb. 23, 2018).

OTC plaintiffs have so far asked Judge Buchwald to approve class settlements totaling $490 million with Barclays, Citibank, and Deutsche Bank.

The court appointed Susman Godfrey LLP and Hausfeld LLP to serve as lead counsel for the class.