Welcome to the BNYM ADR FX Settlement Website

In re: The Bank of New York Mellon ADR FX Litigation, Civil Action No. 16-CV-00212-JPO-JLC (S.D.N.Y.)

The residual distribution of the Net Settlement Fund took place on May 11, 2023. This distribution was made in accordance with the Court’s Order Approving Distribution Plan dated July 1, 2021. If you received a payment in this distribution, please promptly cash your check, as your check will become void 90 days from issuance and the funds may no longer be available to be paid to you after this void date. If you have questions regarding your check or the residual distribution, please send an email with your questions to info@BNYMADRFXSettlement.com.

This website has been established to provide general information regarding the proposed settlement (the “Settlement”) of the class action captioned In re: The Bank of New York Mellon ADR FX Litigation, Civil Action No. 16-CV-00212-JPO-JLC, pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”). The capitalized terms used on this website and not defined shall have the same meanings ascribed to them in the Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement, dated January 15, 2019 (the “Stipulation”).

Please be advised that your rights may be affected by this Settlement if you are a member of the following class of investors to which the Court directed notice, by Order dated January 17, 2019:

The class consists of all entities and individuals who at any time during the period January 1, 1997 through January 17, 2019 held (directly or indirectly, registered or beneficially), or otherwise claim any entitlement to any payment (whether a dividend, rights offering, interest on capital, sale of shares or other distribution) in connection with, any American Depositary Share (sometimes known as an American Depositary Receipt) (“ADR”) for which The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM” or “Defendant”) acted as the depositary sponsored by an issuer that is identified in the Appendix of the Notice (the “Settlement Class”). BNYM and its officers, directors, legal representatives, heirs, successors, corporate parents, subsidiaries, and/or assigns, other than Investment Vehicles (which are not excluded), are excluded from the Settlement Class only to the extent that such Persons or entities had a proprietary (i.e., for their own account) interest in the securities listed in the Appendix to the Notice. For avoidance of doubt, Settlement Class Members include all entities, organizations, and associations regardless of form, including investment funds and pension funds of any kind. BNYM and its officers, directors, legal representatives, heirs, successors, corporate parents, subsidiaries, and/or assigns, other than Investment Vehicles (which are not excluded), are excluded from the Settlement Class only to the extent that such persons or entities had a proprietary (i.e., for their own account) interest in any such ADR and not to the extent that they hold or held such ADR in a fiduciary capacity or otherwise on behalf of any third-party client, account, fund, trust, or employee benefit plan that otherwise falls within the definition of the Settlement Class. Also excluded from the Settlement Class are any persons and entities who or which exclude themselves from the Settlement Class by submitting a request for exclusion that is accepted by the Court.

As more fully described in the Notice of (I) Pendency of Class Action and Proposed Settlement; (II) Final Approval Hearing; and (III) Motion for Attorneys’ Fees and Reimbursement of Litigation Expenses (the “Notice”), the Action alleges that, during the relevant time period, BNYM, as depositary for the ADRs”) listed in the Appendix to the Notice, systematically deducted impermissible fees for conducting foreign exchange (“FX”) from cash distributions issued by foreign companies, and owed to ADR holders. BNYM denies the allegations.

Lead Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and the Settlement Class, have agreed to settle the Action for $72.5 million. If approved, the Settlement will resolve all claims in the Action.

Although the information on this website is intended to assist you, it does not replace the information contained in the Notice and the Stipulation, both of which can be found and downloaded on this site. We recommend that you read the Notice and other relevant case documents carefully to fully understand your rights.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO SETTLEMENT CLASS MEMBERS

As explained in the Notice, if you receive a Post-Card Notice in the mail in connection with this Settlement, you are a Registered Holder Settlement Class Member (i.e., you hold (or held) the ADRs covered by this Action directly through BNYM, are listed in the records of BNYM’s transfer agent with respect to such holdings, and your contact, holding, and distribution information was provided to the Claims Administrator by BNYM’s transfer agent) and you do not have to take any action in order to be eligible to receive a payment from the Settlement.  You should, however, review the information provided by BNYM’s transfer agent with respect to your holdings and distributions to confirm it is accurate and complete.  If the Claims Administrator does not hear from you, it will assume the information is accurate and complete and will use this information to calculate your claim pursuant to the Court-approved Plan of Allocation. 

If you do not receive a Post-Card Notice in the mail in connection with this Settlement, you are a Non-Registered Holder Settlement Class Member and you must complete and submit a valid Claim Form in order to be eligible to receive a payment from the Settlement.

PLEASE NOTE: You may have recently received notice concerning a proposed settlement in the action entitled Carver, et al. v. Bank of New York Mellon, et al., No. 15-CV-10180 (JPO)(JLC) (S.D.N.Y.) (the “ERISA Settlement”). The ERISA Settlement is separate from and in addition to the Settlement of this Action. Detailed information regarding the ERISA Settlement can be found on the website www.BNYMADRERISASettlement.com. Those eligible to participate in the ERISA Settlement can and should also consider submitting a claim to receive a distribution in connection with this Settlement.

IMPORTANT DATES & DEADLINES

August 15, 2019 CLAIM FILING DEADLINE	If you are a Non-Registered Holder Settlement Class Member (as defined in the Notice), this is the only way for you to be eligible to receive a payment from the Settlement. If you are a Registered Holder Settlement Class Member (as defined in the Notice), you do not need to take any further action (i.e., submit a Claim Form) to be eligible to receive a payment from the Settlement, but if the information regarding your holdings and cash distributions as set forth on this website is incorrect or incomplete, you must notify the Claims Administrator immediately. This deadline has passed.
May 13, 2019 EXCLUSION DEADLINE	If you are a member of the Settlement Class and choose to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you will not be eligible to receive any payment from the Settlement. This is the only option that allows you ever to be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendant or any of the other Releasees concerning the Released Claims. See ¶¶47-52 of the Notice for more details. This deadline has passed.
May 13, 2019 OBJECTION DEADLINE	If you do not like the proposed Settlement, the proposed Plan of Allocation, and/or Lead Plaintiffs' Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of Litigation Expenses, you may write to the Court and explain why you do not like them. You can only object to the Settlement, the Plan of Allocation or the fee and expense request if you are a Settlement Class Member and you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement Class. See ¶¶57-63 of the Notice for more details.  This deadline has passed.
June 17, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. FINAL APPROVAL HEARING	Filing a written objection and notice of intention to appear by May 13, 2019 allows you to speak in Court, at the discretion of the Court, about the fairness of the proposed Settlement, the proposed Plan of Allocation, and/or Lead Plaintiffs’ Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of Litigation Expenses. See the Notice for additional details.  The Final Approval Hearing will be held on June 17, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. before the Honorable J. Paul Oetken in Courtroom 706 of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, New York, NY 10007.  The hearing occurred and the Settlement was approved.

The information on this website, including the dates and deadlines set forth in the chart above, are subject to change.  Please continue to check this website for updates.