Banks ask US judge to dismiss Libor-linked suits

New York

BANKS including Bank of America Corp, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc, Barclays plc and Citigroup Inc, asked a judge to throw out claims they cheated customers on interest-rate swaps and other Libor-based transactions.

The companies asked US District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in papers filed in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday and Thursday to dismiss claims in 17 suits growing out of "over-the-counter" transactions, or deals in which investors engaged in Libor-based deals directly with one or more of the banks.

Judge Buchwald is overseeing antitrust cases against the banks and the British Bankers' Association over claims they illegally manipulated the London interbank offered rate.

The banks argued that the investors' fraud claims are improper, that other claims are barred by previous court rulings and that the court lacks jurisdiction over some defendants.

In addition to the over-the-counter plaintiffs, the suits include claims by investors who bought financial products tied to Libor on an exchange, such as the Chicago Board of Trade or Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Plaintiffs in the exchange-based cases last month reached a US$20 million settlement with Barclays in which the London-based bank agreed to cooperate with claims against other banks and potential defendants that haven't yet been named. Bloomberg