Second Circuit Revives Singapore Rate-Rigging Case

A federal appeals court on Wednesday, March 17, ruled that 18 banks and financial services companies must face a lawsuit claiming they conspired to rig benchmark Singapore interest rates, even though the original two plaintiff funds had already dissolved when the case began.

Reversing a lower court ruling, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan stated that Fund Liquidation Holdings could step into the funds’ shoes as their alleged assignee without having to pursue its antitrust and racketeering claims from scratch.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore found no evidence of criminal behavior during a year-long investigation triggered by the Libor rigging scandal, but said the traders had made several attempts to influence prices inappropriately between 2007 and 2011.

“Although the number of traders involved represents a small proportion of the trading community in Singapore, MAS takes a serious view of the need to uphold high standards of integrity in the industry and expects banks to foster a culture of ethical conduct among all their employees,” the central bank said in a statement.

The investigation covered Sibor, the Singapore equivalent of Libor — a collection of rates set by a panel and used as a benchmark for securities worth trillions of dollars globally. It also included a local benchmark for commercial lending and a foreign exchange rate.

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