Bond Antitrust · Claims Open

$86.4M Mexican Government Bonds Antitrust Settlement With Santander, BBVA, Citibanamex, HSBC and Others

Published October 16, 2026

Investors who bought, sold or exchanged peso-denominated Mexican Government Bonds with Santander México, BBVA México, Citibanamex, Deutsche Bank México, HSBC México or Bank of America México between January 1, 2006 and April 19, 2017 may qualify to claim a pro rata share of the $86.4 million Mexican Government Bonds antitrust class action settlement. Exclusions and objections are due October 29, 2026, and claims close January 4, 2027.

Government bond certificates

Current Status

Claims are open. The nearest deadline is October 29, 2026: that is the last day to exclude yourself from the settlement class or to file an objection with the court. Claims must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on January 4, 2027, or mailed with a postmark no later than that date. Judge J. Paul Oetken granted preliminary approval on August 19, 2026, class counsel filed the motion for final approval on October 15, 2026, and the fairness hearing is set for December 3, 2026; no final approval order had been entered and no payment date had been announced as of October 16, 2026. Investors who already filed a valid claim in the earlier Barclays and JPMorgan settlements do not need to file again.

Status Claims Open Exclusions and objections due Oct. 29, 2026
Claim Deadline January 4, 2027 11:59 p.m. ET online · or postmarked by that date
Estimated Payout Pro rata share of an $86.4M fund · based on duration-adjusted bond trading volume
Proof Required Yes Tax ID and peso trading volumes by maturity · trade records if the administrator asks

What Changed Recently?

Six Mexican banks signed an $86.4 million settlement agreement on August 12, 2026: Banco Santander México, BBVA México (formerly BBVA Bancomer), Banco Nacional de México (Citibanamex), Deutsche Bank México, HSBC México and Bank of America México. Deutsche Bank México has since come under Citigroup ownership and been renamed Banco Citi México. The court preliminarily approved the deal on August 19, 2026, and the administrator began mailing notices on September 18, 2026.

On October 15, 2026, class counsel asked the court for final approval. According to that filing, 29,461 notices had been mailed as of October 13, 2026, and no class member had objected or asked to be excluded so far. If approved, the settlement would resolve the case against every remaining defendant.

The lawsuit, filed in March 2018, alleges that the banks conspired to fix the prices of Mexican Government Bonds from 2006 through April 2017 by overcharging investors on newly issued bonds resold after auction and by widening the bid-ask spread on bonds traded with investors. The settling banks deny the allegations and say they have meritorious defenses, and the court has not decided who is right. The case was dismissed twice before the Second Circuit revived it in February 2024; in January 2025 the court denied the banks' motion to dismiss the third amended complaint, and the parties reached an agreement in principle in May 2026 after mediation.

This is the third settlement in the case. Barclays paid $5.7 million and JPMorgan paid $15 million in earlier settlements reached in 2020, which brings the total recovery to $107.1 million.

Who Qualifies?

The preliminarily approved settlement class covers every person or entity that entered into a Mexican Government Bond transaction with a defendant bank or one of its affiliates between at least January 1, 2006 and April 19, 2017, and that was either: A "Mexican Government Bond transaction" is any purchase, sale or exchange of Mexican Government Bonds in the primary, secondary or any other market. "Mexican Government Bonds" are peso-denominated debt securities issued by the United Mexican States, including CETES, Bondes D, UDIBONOS and BONOS. The settlement website also has an Eligible Bonds page.

Excluded are the defendants and their employees, agents, affiliates, parents, subsidiaries and alleged co-conspirators, along with the U.S. and Mexican governments. Investment vehicles such as mutual funds, hedge funds and employee benefit plans are not excluded merely because they are affiliated with a defendant.

How Much Can You Get?

No per-claimant estimate has been published. The settling banks will pay $86.4 million into an all-cash fund. Before anything is paid out, the fund is reduced by court-awarded attorneys' fees and expenses, service awards, notice and administration costs, and taxes on the fund. What is left is split pro rata among authorized claimants.

Each claimant's share depends on the size and maturity of the bonds traded. Under the distribution plan, each transaction is assigned to one of 31 categories based on the bond's remaining years to maturity on the trade date. Each category carries a multiplier derived from its "risk number," a measure of how sensitive the bond's price is to changes in yield. The administrator multiplies the claimant's notional volume in each category by that multiplier and adds the results. That duration-adjusted total sets the claimant's share. The court approved the same plan for the earlier Barclays and JPMorgan settlements.

The notice says class counsel will seek no more than one-third of the fund ($28.8 million) in fees, up to $500,000 in expenses, and up to $10,000 for each plaintiff. The October 15 motion asks for fees of 29.34% of the fund and $10,000 for each of the eight plaintiffs. The settlement is non-reversionary: if it is approved, no money returns to the banks, however many class members file.

What Proof Is Required?

The claim form asks for the claimant's tax identification number. For most U.S. claimants that is a Social Security number, employer identification number or taxpayer identification number; claimants outside the U.S. enter a comparable government-issued ID number. The form also requires a summary table of the claimant's Mexican Government Bond trading during the class period, with total peso notional volumes broken out by the bond's remaining time to maturity.

Trade-level records do not have to be attached when filing. The administrator may later ask for them, and the claim form lists the kinds of records it would accept, such as broker or bank transaction data, trade confirmations, custodian or prime broker statements, account statements and Bloomberg confirmations. A trustee, custodian or other nominee filing for someone else must attach documentation of its authority to act. Larger filers can use the electronic filing instructions and transaction template posted on the settlement website. Each legal entity files its own claim form.

What Is the Deadline?

The deadlines, as stated on the settlement website and in the notice: The court can move the hearing date without further mailed notice; changes are posted on the settlement website.

How Do You Take Action?

Claims are filed through the online filing site linked from the claim form page of the official settlement website. A printable Proof of Claim and Release can be downloaded from the same page and mailed instead. The exclusion and objection procedures, including what a valid request must contain, are set out in the notice and the preliminary approval order on the settlement website. Investors with a valid claim on file from the April 2021 Barclays and JPMorgan notice are already counted and do not need to submit a new form.

What Happens Next?

The notice-and-objection period runs through October 29, 2026, and class counsel told the court it would file an update on any developments by November 5, 2026. Judge Oetken will consider final approval, the fee request and the service awards at the December 3, 2026 hearing. Payments can begin only after the court grants final approval, the claims are reviewed and any appeals are resolved; no payment date had been announced as of October 16, 2026. The settlement agreement also gives the settling banks a right to terminate the deal before final approval in certain circumstances.

Sources and Verification



Questions

Do investors who filed a claim in the Barclays and JPMorgan settlements need to file again?

No new claim is needed from anyone who timely submitted a valid claim form under the April 21, 2021 notice for the $20.7 million Barclays and JPMorgan settlements. The notice says those claims carry over to the $86.4 million settlement. Everyone else must file a new claim by January 4, 2027.

Which bonds count as Mexican Government Bonds?

The settlement covers any peso-denominated debt securities issued by the United Mexican States, including CETES, Bondes D, UDIBONOS and BONOS. A covered transaction is any purchase, sale or exchange of those bonds in the primary, secondary or any other market from January 1, 2006 through April 19, 2017.

Can investors based outside the United States qualify?

The class includes people domiciled in the United States or its territories, and people domiciled elsewhere who entered into the transaction in the United States or its territories. In both cases the transaction had to be with a defendant bank or one of its affiliates.

Does unclaimed money go back to the banks?

The settlement is non-reversionary. If the court grants final approval, none of the $86.4 million returns to the settling banks, however many class members file. The net fund is divided among authorized claimants.

Has money from the earlier Mexican bond settlements been paid out?

The settlement website says the initial distribution from the $20.7 million Barclays and JPMorgan settlements went out on or around May 22, 2026, and that claimants eligible for a second distribution from those settlements will be notified separately.

For more class actions keep scrolling below.
Settlement Amount $86.4 million
Case Title In re Mexican Government Bonds Antitrust Litigation
Case Number 1:18-cv-02830 (JPO)
Court U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
Final Approval Hearing December 3, 2026 at 3:00 PM Before Judge J. Paul Oetken · held by telephone
Administrator A.B. Data, Ltd.
Official Website MGB Antitrust Settlement.com

More on Antitrust and Price-Fixing Settlements