Hausfeld LLP agreed to a $4.95 million settlement with Morgan Stanley in an antitrust class action regarding municipal derivatives, the firm said in a press release Monday.
Hausfeld served as one of the interim class counsel law firms leading the case.
In the complaint (In re: Municipal Derivatives Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 08 Civ. 2516 (S.D.N.Y.), plaintiffs allege banks, insurance companies and brokers engage in anticompetitive behavior in the municipal derivatives industry. It includes those that purchased municipal derivatives from 1992 to the present.
Morgan Stanley vigorously denies all claims of the alleged wrongdoing and entered the settlement without any such admission in order to avoid costly class-action litigation.
The settlement still need court approval. In it, Morgan Stanley agrees to pay $4.95 million to resolve the claims, along with an additional $1.55 million for administrative costs.
Plaintiffs are continuing to pursue antitrust claims against other entities in the municipal derivatives industry.
Hausfeld LLPÂ attorneys working on this case are Michael D. Hausfeld, Michael P. Lehmann, Megan E. Jones and Faris Ghareeb.