Eight Large Banks to Face US Cities’ Bond Collusion Claims DOJ Takes On Google in Groundbreaking Monopoly Lawsuit A US federal judge has said that a group of American cities may pursue class-action claims accusing eight large banks of driving up the interest rates that they paid on a popular municipal bond. Beginning on 12 September, a federal judge has started hearing claims from the US Justice Department (DOJ) and a group of states that Google abused its power as a tech monopoly over online search engine services. Cities led by Baltimore, Philadelphia and San Diego have accused the banks of colluding to raise rates on more than 12,000 variablerate demand obligations (VRDOs) from 2008 to 2016. They said this reduced available funding for hospitals, power and water supplies, schools and transportation, and likely caused billions of dollars in damages. Once a more than $400 billion market, VRDOs are long-term bonds with short-term rates that typically reset weekly. Banks must remarket VRDOs including Apple, Mozilla and Samsung allow Google’s search engine to remain the default for most commonly used computers, smartphones and tablets. The government will argue that Google’s payments to these partners (which sometimes run in the billions of dollars) constitute monopolistic practice and illegally shut out competitors. that investors redeem at the lowest possible rates. In this case, the cities accused the eight banks of conspiring not to compete for remarketing services, and artificially inflating rates by sharing information about bond inventories and planned rate changes. Spokespeople for the banks said differences among the bonds would require many thousands of individualised examinations into whether rate inflation occurred, making a single class-action lawsuit unwieldy. Google has denied the charges, arguing that its popularity is owed to the quality of its search engine. The company claims that customers have a choice to use other search engines, but rely on Google as the most helpful. The case represents the first time a tech giant has been brought to trial over monopoly charges since similar accusations were brought against Microsoft more than two decades ago. The outcome of the trial will provide an indication of how successful US regulators may be in their efforts to rein in the power of large tech firms over the internet and modern infrastructure. US District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan rejected efforts by Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Canada and Wells Fargo to require cities to pursue claims individually, a move which would likely reduce potential recoveries. In its lawsuit, the government claims that Google illegally stifles rivals by using its partnerships with phone makers and internet browser companies to shut out rival search engines. Google controls a 90% share of the search engine market in the US (91% globally). Its agreements with other firms MONTHLY ROUND-UP 9
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