Overstock.com on Friday said it sued at least 10 major U.S. brokerages, seeking $3.48 billion in damages for what it called their deliberate attempt to drive the online retailer's stock price down.
The defendants include U.S. units of Bank of America, Bank of New York, Bear Stearns, Citigroup, Credit Suisse Group,Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs Group, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS, among others, Overstock said.
Overstock said the defendants, whom it said control more than 80% of the prime brokerage market, conspired to manipulate its stock, and had no intention to cover orders with borrowed stock, creating "fails." It said a large number of fails caused downward pressure on Overstock's share price.
The lawsuit was filed with the Superior Court of California in San Francisco, Overstock said. A copy of the complaint was not immediately available.