Opinion ID: 490525
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Exchange Defendants

Text: 86 Little of the evidence discussed thus far relates to the Exchange defendants. The strongest evidence presented by Apex to show that the Exchange defendants participated in a conspiracy consists of evidence of a number of communications between the Exchange defendants and the long defendants. However, the content of these conversations, even as characterized by Apex, amounts to jawboning in an attempt to avert an impending default. We note that the Exchange also communicated with Apex as part of this effort. Moreover, Apex has offered no plausible motivation for the Exchange defendants to have participated in the alleged scheme. We therefore affirm the grant of summary judgment as to the Exchange and Raber, its vice-chairman. 87 The district court held alternatively that in addition to failing to prove participation by the Exchange defendants in a conspiracy, Apex failed to show bad faith, which the district court believes is necessary in an antitrust claim asserted against a self-regulating market such as the Exchange when the claim relates to the duty of the Exchange to maintain a fair and orderly market. See 641 F.Supp. at 1282; see also P.J. Taggares Co. v. New York Mercantile Exchange, 476 F.Supp. 72, 78-79 (S.D.N.Y.1979). Since we have concluded that Apex has failed to present evidence linking the Exchange defendants to a conspiracy, we need not reach the issue of whether bad faith is a necessary element of the antitrust claims against the Exchange.