Belden Nago is an associate based in our New York office.
Mr. Nago joined the firm in 2011 and focuses on securities litigation.
- Northwestern University (B.S. 1997)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MEng. 1998)
- Columbia Law School (J.D. 2003)
- New York State Bar
- United States Patent and Trademark Office
Experience
Some of Mr. Nago’s relevant experience includes:
- Lead counsel representing Wespath, the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits of the United Methodist Church, in Doyle v. Reata Pharmaceuticals, a securities class action alleging that Reata made false and/or misleading statements — including in connection with its secondary public stock offerings — concerning, inter alia, the FDA guidance regarding the design of the clinical trial (CARDINAL) for Reata’s drug candidate, bardoxolone methyl. When the FDA revealed serious concerns it had previously raised to Reata, the share price declined materially. The case has resulted in a settlement of $45 million.
- Co-lead counsel in Apple Gift Card Litigation, representing a class of consumers who were victims of gift card scams and from whom Apple allegedly withholds funds. This matter has resulted in a settlement of $35 million for the class.
- Counsel in In re Deutsche Bank Spoofing Litigation on behalf of a putative class of investors alleging manipulation through “spoofing” of U.S. Treasury futures traded on the Chicago Board of Trade and Eurodollar futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
- Co-class counsel on behalf of a certified class of class of exchange-based investors in Dennis v. The Andersons, Inc. et al. alleging monopolization and manipulation of Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat futures contracts in violation of federal antitrust and commodity exchange laws.
- Representation in a shareholder derivative lawsuit against officers and directors of HSBC Holdings and its subsidiaries, alleging that HSBC ran money laundering operations out of New York City. The litigation settled for $72.5 million, the then-largest foreign derivatives settlement ever reached and one of the largest insurer-funded cash payments achieved in a U.S. derivatives lawsuit.
- Representation of a family office as plaintiff in The Stone Family Trust v. Credit Suisse AG, et al., an opt-out lawsuit from Chahal v. Credit Suisse Grp. AG, et al. The cases arise from the collapse, on February 5, 2018, of XIV, an Exchange Traded note issued and underwritten by Credit Suisse designed to replicate the inverse of the daily performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index. Defendants had failed to disclose material risks to investing in XIV in its offering documents or public statements, and on February 5, 2018, XIV lost 96% of its value, or approximately $1.56 billion.
- Co-lead counsel on behalf of a putative class of investors in In re Natwest Treasury Futures Spoofing Litigation,
a trading markets manipulation case alleging manipulation through “spoofing” of U.S. Treasury futures. This matter is important in that it seeks to curb manipulative and abusive practices by dominant financial institutions and make Treasury futures markets more efficient. - Court-appointed executive committee member and class counsel in In re Cattle and Beef Antitrust Litigation, representing cattle producers and cattle futures traders. The suit alleges that the “Big 4” meatpacking firms conspired to suppress prices for fed cattle and manipulate live cattle futures and options prices. The case has already resulted in a $83.5 million settlement with one of the defendants.
- Co-lead counsel in Macovski v. Groupon Inc. et al., a securities class action alleging that the company made materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose to investors its financial health before ending its sale of physical goods and announcing the departure of two top executives. The case resulted in a $13.5 million settlement that has received final approval.
- Representation of an ad hoc group of shareholders in In re: Intelsat S.A., et al., the Intelsat bankruptcy proceedings, successfully obtaining warrants for the shareholders in a multi-party trial before the bankruptcy court in Virginia.
- Lead counsel in In re Citigroup Inc Securities Litigation, a class action arising out of Citigroup’s alleged misrepresentations regarding their exposure to losses associated with numerous collateralized debt obligations. This case settled for $590 million.
- Selected by the Court as co-lead counsel in In re J.P. Morgan Treasury Futures Spoofing Litigation, alleging that defendants manipulated U.S. Treasury futures for more than a decade and that this conduct contributed to the bank’s recent $920 million settlement with the DOJ, CFTC, and SEC. The case has a putative settlement of $15.7 million.
- Interim co-lead counsel of a class led by the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General, the New Mexico State Investment Council, the Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board in In re Credit Default Swaps Auctions Litigation alleging that leading credit default swap (CDS) dealers took part in a more than decade-long, multibillion-dollar scheme to manipulate the benchmark prices used to value credit default swap contracts at settlement.
- Counsel for a plaintiff on behalf of gold purchasers in In re Commodity Exchange, Inc., Gold Futures and Options Trading Litigation, a market manipulation case. The case resulted in settlements of $152 million.
- Special fiduciary representation for the exchange-based class in In re Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation for a putative class of participants who traded futures and options in the FX market. The case has already resulted in partial settlements of more than $2.3 billion.
- Representation of municipal issuers, including governmental entities and hospital systems, in FINRA arbitrations alleging misrepresentations by underwriters in connection with Auction Rate Securities issuances.
- Representation of the exchange-based class in In re LIBOR-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation, an antitrust case alleging that defendant banks colluded to misreport and manipulate LIBOR. The case resulted in settlements totaling $190.45 million, which combined represent the largest recovery in a “futures-only” commodities class action litigation.
- Representation of a whistleblower in Anonymous, et ano. v. Moody's Corporation, et al., No. 103997/2012 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cty. and First Dept.), alleging millions of dollars of tax fraud using a sham captive insurance company for over a decade regarding domestic and international transactions. The litigation was settled for $8.5 million.
- Representation of the proposed class of investors in Shah v. Zimmer Biomet Holdings, a securities class action alleging that a medical device company did not disclose systemic quality issues at its manufacturing facility.