US Appeals Court Revives Yen Libor-Rigging Suit

A federal appeals court on Wednesday, April 1, revived private antitrust litigation in which investors accused a group of large banks of conspiring to rig Yen Libor and Euroyen Tibor benchmark rates at their expense, reported Reuters. 

The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan stated the investors plausibly alleged that the defendants’ conduct caused them economic harm, and a lower court judge should not have dismissed their case because they lacked standing.

These lawsuits allege that the defendants violated federal antitrust and commodities laws by colluding to manipulate Yen LIBOR and Euroyen TIBOR from January 1, 2006 to June 30, 2011 by submitting false individual interest rates that would influence the global benchmark rates in an artificial direction that financially benefited the defendants’ derivatives positions. The defendant banks also are alleged to have colluded with various inter-dealer brokers to fix the prices of derivatives priced to Yen LIBOR. Certain defendants named in the lawsuit have already pled guilty to criminal charges of price fixing and paid billions in fines to regulators.

To date, a number of defendant banks have settled, resulting in the collection of US$307 million for investors.

Full Content: Reuters

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