JPMorgan, Citigroup Among Banks Sued in Aussie Rate-Fix Case
- U.S. funds are seeking damages from 16 banks, two brokers
- Some defendants pledge to ‘vigorously’ defend complaint
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JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley are among 16 banks being sued by funds in the U.S. for allegedly manipulating a key Australian interest rate benchmark to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit profits.
The class action, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, claims the banks sought to fix the bank bill swap rate, the local equivalent of Libor, which is used to price billions of dollars of floating-rate bonds and syndicated loans. It cites a civil action launched earlier this year by Australia’s securities regulator against Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., National Australia Bank Ltd. and Westpac Banking Corp., which are also named in the U.S. action.