The Opportunity for Indian Importers and Exporters

• To recover an estimated 10% of the value of air freight purchases to/from the EU over at least 2000-2006;

• With minimal risk and manageable time/attention by you.

The Air Cargo Cartel

• 30 leading airlines illegally fixed prices of fuel and other surcharges;

• Freight forwarders passed on the inflated fuel surcharges to their customers.

Criminal Investigations into the Cartel

• The US Department of Justice has obtained guilty pleas from 9 airlines including BA;

• A senior BA executive had pleaded guilty;• c$1bn in criminal fines imposed on the airlines to

date;• We have negotiated a settlement of US$85m with

Lufthansa for its US liabilities only;• We are one of the class counsel in the US civil

class action and lead class counsel for non-US plaintiffs.

The Position in the EU

• The EU Commission is investigating the cartel: Decision expected in Q1 2009;

• Decision expected to find most airlines guilty and impose heavy fines;

• That Decision on the airlines’ liability must be applied by any national court in the EU as regards those airlines subject to it;

• To recover for shipments to/from/within the EU a claim must be made in the EU.

The Proceedings in the English High Court

• On 18 September we launched proceedings on behalf of named importers against BA;

• The case should be about the amount of the losses caused, not the fact of the loss (which will be established by the EU Commission Decision);

• The claims against BA are on a “joint and several basis” for losses caused by BA to each claimant PLUS all losses caused by other cartelists;

• The claims will be on behalf of an ever-growing group of claimants – there is real strength in numbers;

• The objective is to secure settlement from as many airlines as are willing to settle on reasonable terms.

• We are acting on a “no-win, no-fee” basis: claimants will not be required to pay our legal fees;

• We have obtained extensive insurance against the risk under the “loser pays” rule of claimants having to pay defendants’ legal costs if the case is lost;

• Clients have agreed to stick together as a group by entering into a “Collective Claims Agreement”;

• Expert Barristers, economists and accountants are engaged and support Cohen Milstein’s litigation/settlement strategy.