Global Competition Review has recognized a Sidley case at its GCR Awards 2025. The dismissal of ICE LIBOR interest rate benchmark class action was named the winning matter in the “Litigation of the Year – Cartel defence” category. The annual awards hosted by Global Competition Review honor the world’s leading antitrust lawyers, economists, and enforcers, as well as the biggest cases from 2024.
Sidley’s representation of The Norinchukin Bank (“Norinchukin”) in the multidistrict LIBOR litigation highlights its strength in representing multinational companies at the intersection of securities, antitrust, and regulatory law. Norinchukin, a Japanese cooperative bank, is one of the world’s largest financial institutions by asset size. Sidley has represented Norinchukin in dozens of consolidated and coordinated class actions arising from claims of manipulation and collusion in connection with the London Interbank Borrowing Rates (LIBOR) for the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen. At the outset, the firm successfully argued before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on behalf of the 16 financial institution defendants for consolidation and transfer of the cases in the Southern District of New York. Since then, Sidley, working with other defendants, obtained the dismissals of many of the claims and favorable settlements in others, including a groundbreaking settlement with the largest two classes of plaintiffs. After filing a dispositive summary judgment motion, in March 2025, Sidley reached an agreement with the last remaining plaintiff and has resolved all claims against Norinchukin.
The Sidley team included Andrew W. Stern, Tom A. Paskowitz, Peter J. Mardian, and Michelle A. Gomez-Reichman.
