US: Citigroup follows Barclays in settling US Libor rigging lawsuit

Citibank agreed to a US$130 million settlement with a plaintiffs group of plaintiffs in the ongoing dollar Libor litigation Monday, according to plaintiffs’ counsel.

The bank is the second in the sprawling suit to settle with so-called over-the-counter purchasers in the consolidated case before US District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of the Southern District of New York.

Made up of cities, pension funds and other plaintiffs who transacted directly with the banks that determine the dollar Libor, the plaintiff group is among those that sued in the wake of the London-based inter-bank interest rate-fixing scandal.

Barclays reached a US$120 million settlement with the same group in 2015. That settlement, with similar terms as Citibank’s, was preliminarily approved by Buchwald earlier this year.

According to the proposed preliminary settlement filed Monday, Citibank agreed to pay into a fund available to future class members. Attorneys for the OTC plaintiffs said the bank also agreed to provide substantial cooperation in the ongoing litigation.

“This is an important step forward in this case. We will continue to represent the class against the remaining banks to ensure that they are held accountable for their actions,” Susman Godfrey partner Bill Carmody, the lead attorney for the plaintiff group, said in a statement.

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