State prosecutors in Florida and Virginia filed lawsuits against Bank of New York Mellon Corp., accusing the bank of improperly charging their state and local pension funds for currency transactions.
Florida Attorney General Pamela Jo Bondi and Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli filed complaints against the custody bank today. The lawsuits support other complaints filed by a whistleblower legal group, which the attorneys general took control of earlier this year.
“The lawsuits filed by the Virginia and Florida Attorneys General are unwarranted and reflect a flawed understanding of foreign currency markets,” BNY Mellon said in a statement.
Florida and Virginia aren’t alone in their fight against protecting state employees’ pension funds. In 2009, then-California Attorney General Jerry Brown sued State Street Corp. for allegedly improperly pricing foreign exchange for state funds.
