All Persons who, directly or through an agent, entered into Stock Loan Transactions with the Prime Broker Defendants (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, UBS, EquiLend LLC, Credit Suisse, or Bank of America Merrill Lynch) direct or indirect parents, subsidiaries, or divisions of the Prime Broker Defendants in the United States from January 7, 2009 through the Execution Date (the “Settlement Class Period”), inclusive. Excluded from the Settlement Class are Defendants and their employees, affiliates, parents, and subsidiaries, whether or not named in the Amended Complaint, entities which previously requested exclusion from any Class in this Action, and the United States Government, provided, however, that Investment Vehicles shall not be excluded from the definition of the Settlement Class.

“Stock Loan Transactions” means any transaction, including any transaction facilitated by a prime broker, agent lender, or other Person, in which a holder of a stock temporarily lends the stock in exchange for collateral or in which a borrower of a stock provides collateral to temporarily borrow a stock, and in which the stock is ultimately returned to the lender at a later date, at which time the lender returns the collateral to the borrower. For the avoidance of doubt, “Stock Loan Transactions” include the facilitation of short positions, but do not include non-equity securities lending or stock repurchase (repo) transactions.

Transactions with Defendants in which you were a Borrower or Lender include:

• Open Stock Loan Transactions: Treated as separate transactions for each day the stock remains on loan.
• Term Stock Loan Transactions: Treated as if they were separate transactions for each day for the length of the term of the loan. If the stock loan remains open after the term, it should be treated as an Open Stock Loan as described above. 
• Nonconforming or unusual Stock Loan Transactions: May be submitted if accurate values for the terms reflective of the economic reality of the transaction, may be determined.  

The complaint alleges that in order to protect their profits, the Prime Broker Defendants, have been conspiring since at least 2009 through a company called EquiLend, which they control, to prevent participants from accessing marketplaces where they could benefit from direct, all-to-all trading and thereby secure themselves the best prices. (All-to-all trading means that stock lenders can offer a stock to every other stock borrower in the market and select the best price.) Denying others this level of access forces trades in the market to go through their prime brokers, which is how the banks are able to reap tremendous financial benefit. In 2016, for example, these six institutions skimmed approximately 60 percent of the $9.15 billion in stock lending revenue alone, despite performing a service for which they bear virtually no risk. Any other arrangement would have substantially reduced the need for their services, and the premiums that they charge would have been untenable.

Class action on behalf of all persons and entities who from January 7, 2009, through the present entered into stock loan transactions with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse Group AG, EquiLend LLC, Goldman Sachs & Co., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Morgan Stanley, UBS AG in the United States.