Deutsche Bank Ordered to Pay Fired Rate Traders $493,370

Four Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) traders who won reinstatement of their jobs after they were dismissed following an internal probe into rate-rigging were awarded 365,474 euros ($493,370) in missed salary.

The total monthly pay of the four men, who were fired in February, ranged from 10,833 euros to 22,083 euros on average, according to the written version of the judgment made Sept. 11 and released by the Frankfurt Labor Court yesterday. The men, whose names weren’t disclosed, returned to work on Nov. 4, according to the bank.

The traders, who were fired as part of the lender’s probe into manipulation of benchmark interest rates, included two managing directors, a vice president and a director, according to the document. The managing directors were awarded bonuses of 2.7 million euros and 780,000 euros for 2011, while the two more junior bankers were awarded 200,000 euros and 180,000 euros, according to the judgment. Investment bank bonuses are typically paid over several years.

Regulators around the world are investigating whether more than a dozen firms, including Deutsche Bank, colluded to rig benchmark interest rates. Barclays Plc, UBS AG and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc are among companies that have been fined about $3.7 billion for rigging the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, the benchmark for more than $300 trillion of securities worldwide.

‘Calmed Down’

The traders said that before they were dismissed, their bonuses for 2011 were reduced as a sanction for their allegedly inappropriate behavior and that an unidentified Deutsche Bank official said they would be compensated once “the situation had calmed down,” according to the ruling.

Deutsche Bank disputes that account, the document shows. A spokesman for Deutsche Bank, Christian Streckert, declined to immediately comment when reached by phone.

The court said the total value of the wrongful dismissal claims is 1.9 million euros. That number reflects the pay owed to the plaintiffs, including any potential future earnings under their employment contract.

Source: Bloomberg

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