Barclays agrees to pay $100 mln to settle Libor claims

Barclays PLC has agreed to pay $100 million to end investigations by 43 states and the District of Columbia into its alleged manipulation of the London interbank offered rate benchmark in the mid-2000s, authorities announced Monday.

The settlement comes four years after the British bank resolved similar charges with U.S. and U.K. authorities that had ignited a firestorm and led to the resignation of its top leadership. Attorneys general from multiple states led by New York and Connecticut launched their own probes in 2012 in the wake of those charges.

The states said government entities and not-for-profit groups in their states were “defrauded of millions of dollars” when they entered into swaps or other financial contracts based on Libor, without knowing that Barclays and other banks were working to manipulating the benchmark, according to a copy of the agreement announced Monday.

“There has to be one set of rules for everyone, no matter how rich or how powerful,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in announcing the deal.

Source: MarketWatch