Six Major Banks To Pay $64.5M To Settle Antitrust Allegations

According to a proposed settlement, 6 major banks have agreed to pay $64.5 million to resolve antitrust allegations that they conspired to rig benchmark Singapore interest rates.

Lawyers for the investment fund plaintiffs said in a proposed settlement filing that the settling defendants are Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, ING Bank Citibank  and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

“The terms of the settlements are substantively fair, providing considerable relief to eligible class members in exchange for the complete resolution of the action,” Vincent Briganti of Lowey Dannenberg said in a court filing.

In a statement, Credit Suisse said that it was “pleased” to resolve the matters dating back to 2007.

Despite settling the banks have denied any wrongdoing. The New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in March 2021 revived allegations against the banks from plaintiffs including Fund Liquidation Holdings.

The complaint accused banks of rigging the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (SIBOR) and Singapore Swap Offered Rate. The SIBOR is widely used for pricing mortgages and other banking products.

Briganti said in the proposed settlement filing that the plaintiffs anticipated settling claims in the coming weeks against other bank defendants. He told the court he needed more time to finalize the deals.

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