JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank have agreed to settle Libor charges brought forward in two investor lawsuits. The banks will pay a total of $148 million under the terms of the agreement. The deal was approved by a New York federal judge.
JPMorgan will pay $71 million while Germany’s largest lender, Deutsche Bank, will add $78 million. The news comes only a couple of months after a March ruling that some of the investors didn’t have standing to sue.
The case brought forward by one of the investors was dismissed, but only after a settlement agreement was reached. An additional court hearing set to grant final approval is scheduled for November.
The cases brought forward by Sonterra in 2015 and Laydon in 2012 are focusing on yen-denominated rates in Tokyo. Other parties in the lawsuits that have already settled are Citibank and RP Martin Holdings for $23 million and HSBC for $35 million.
ICAP, Tullett Prebon and Lloyds were dismissed from the Laydon case in March 2017. Charges against Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of America Corp. and UBS have been dropped from the Sonterra case.
The manipulation of interest rate benchmarks in recent years has been at the center of numerous litigation processes against major banks. Foreign Exchange market charges have escalated during the past couple of years, ensuring several more years of litigation charges against prime brokers.
Recently, Alpari US filed charges against several prime brokers that had been executing orders for the firm. The banks allegedly tuned their trading platforms to reject orders under certain circumstances. The practice known as Last Look is said to have put the brokerage at a disadvantage.
