Credit Suisse settles in US rate-rigging lawsuit
Seven top banks, including Credit Suisse, have agreed to pay $324 million (CHF339 million) to settle a private US lawsuit accusing them of rigging the “ISDAfix” interest rate benchmark used in the huge derivatives market.
Investors had claimed that the banks – Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Royal Bank of Scotland Group – conspired to rig the “ISDAfix” benchmark from 2009 to 2012.
The ISDAfix is used to set the price of swaps and interest rate derivatives.
Bloomberg reported that the fine follows a ruling by US District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan that a group of investors led by an Alaska pension fund had raised “plausible allegations that a conspiracy among the defendants existed” and allowed the suit to go ahead.
The investors said the banks used electronic chatrooms to fix the IDSAfix by submitting identical rate quotes.
Under the accord, made public on Tuesday, Credit Suisse Group will pay $50 million; Bank of America will pay $50 million; Barclays, $30 million; Citigroup, $42 million; Deutsche Bank, $50 million; JPMorgan Chase & Co., $52 million; and Royal Bank of Scotland Group, $50 million.
The banks have not commented on the case at the time of writing.
According to Bloomberg, eight other banks are also involved but have yet to settle, including UBS, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, Nomura, Wells Fargo, and ICAP.
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