Velador Associates Large Scale Data Analysis team succeeded in analyzing more than 11 terabytes of transaction data provided in multiple formats.
The Complaint
Velador Associates are disclosed consulting experts in this US$2.3 billion Antitrust Class Action lawsuit – one of the largest antitrust class actions in U.S. legal history. The action alleged that the Defendants conspired to fix prices in the foreign exchange market, in violation of Sections 1 and 3 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. §§1, 3. The Action also alleged that the Defendants engaged in manipulation with respect to the FX market in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act, 7 U.S.C. §§1, et seq. The Action alleged that the Defendants’ conduct affected the pricing of trillions of dollars of financial transactions.
The Brief
Acting for the Plaintiffs, we took a leading role in analysing the structured data provided by the Defendants, as well as unstructured chat records.
The Challenge
The Velador team analysed in excess of 11 terabytes, processed from a wide variety of original formats, incorporating more than 30 different source systems from 16 banks. To manage this quantum of data we created nearly 200 SQL databases which we operated simultaneously.
We then created a series of bespoke mathematical and statistical models to analyse the data. These models were designed to incorporate, but were not limited to, pattern and behavioural recognition, and anomaly detection.
To date, this challenge is widely regarded as being among the largest and most complex data analysis projects in recent U.S. legal history.
The Outcome
Velador Associates was able to provide expert witness testimony, supporting the Plaintiffs case.
In addition, as a result of our intimate knowledge of the structure of the foreign exchange market, we assisted the courts in defining the allocation of damages, both for the Plaintiffs and against the Defendants.