Several of the nation’s leading investment banks, including Credit Suisse First Boston Corp., Goldman Sachs & Co., Lehman Brothers Inc., Merrill Lynch Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., Salomon Smith Barney Inc., and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., hope to duplicate the recent success of other defendants and avoid antitrust liability for their activities relating to the ill-fated dot-com IPO boom. Faced with a large, consolidated class action brought by purchasers in technology IPO offerings, the banks have asked a Manhattan federal district court to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming in part that they have “implied immunity” from the federal antitrust laws for the actions alleged.
In the case, In Re Initial Public Offering Antitrust Litigation(” IPO Antitrust“), the IPO purchasers sued the banks, which underwrote the IPOs and provided brokerage services. Plaintiffs allege a conspiracy to raise IPO prices, in large part through a process known as “laddering,” in violation of the antitrust laws.
