Fideres was retained by Australia’s financial markets regulator Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to provide financial expertise and develop economic evidence to support allegations of benchmark manipulation within the bank bill swap reference rate (BBSW) market. ASIC alleged that ANZ engaged in market manipulation, unconscionable conduct and other unlawful behaviour which likely influenced the setting of the BBSW in such a way as to advantage ANZ over others with an opposite exposure to the BBSW.
Fideres provided an expert report analysing ANZ’s trading patterns and exposure levels and analysing BBSW submissions for market manipulation.
The case settled in November 2017 via an enforcement undertaking of AUD 35m including payment into a fund to be applied to the benefit of the community.
Robert Chang, Head of Fideres’s Securities Litigation practice, is a financial market expert with extensive and broad-ranging experience in the areas of securities, commodities, derivatives and structured finance.
Since joining Fideres in 2014, Robert has been instrumental in helping institutional and retail investors to recover billions for his consulting and expert testifying work in over 30 landmark financial market investigations and litigations. His most recent successes include a $508 million partial settlement in the ISDAfix interest rate benchmark class action and a €1.4 billion settlement of securities fraud claims against Steinhoff International Holdings NV (second largest against a European issuer accused of securities fraud).
Robert’s team help law firms, regulators and investors across the globe in litigations and other disputes, from the initial claim filing, through dismissal, discovery, expert testimony and settlement. On his team, Robert is often the main architect for groundbreaking analyses and models used in key filings and testimonies.
Robert completed his MSc in Risk Management and Financial Engineering at Imperial College with distinction. Prior to this, he obtained a BSc Economics degree with distinction from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.
