BASF, three banks reach $20M settlement on platinum, palladium price-fixing

BASF (OTCQX:BASFY) and three banks – Goldman Sachs (GS), HSBC (HSBC) and ICBC Standard Bank – agreed to pay $20M to settle a nearly decade-old antitrust lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to suppress platinum and palladium prices, Reuters reported Monday, adding that all four defendants denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

Purchasers of platinum, palladium and futures contracts for the metals accused the defendants of conspiring during 2008-14 to rig the twice-daily platinum and palladium “fixings” by sharing customer data, front-running expected price moves, and placing bogus orders.

The lower metals prices reduced the cost that banks and their clients paid for platinum and palladium, and enabled banks to avoid losses on short positions they maintained in futures markets, Reuters explained.

The lawsuit is one of several in U.S. courts accusing big banks of colluding in various markets including interest rate benchmarks, U.S. Treasuries, currencies and commodities.