Analysts argue lawsuits from Libor are unlikely to succeed
LAWSUITS against Barclays linked to Libor-fixing are unlikely to succeed based on yesterday’s evidence to the Treasury select committee, analysts have said.
Barclays’ finance boss has told analysts that the bank has “not suffered any deposit flight as a result of recent events” during a conference call.
And number crunchers at Espirito Santo Investment Bank said “the probability of any litigation being successful against Barclays appears to be quite low”.
They noted that civil law cases would require proof that the rate was in fact lowered – difficult to show given that Barclays often posted figures towards the top of the pack of banks who submit their rates, the analysts said after a call with chief financial officer Chris Lucas.
“In what may prove pivotal to many litigation cases, none of the authorities have accused Barclays of any intention to manipulate the ultimate Libor rates as a result of conduct during the financial crisis,” they added.
There are several class action and individual lawsuits in the pipeline linked to the Libor scandal, involving more than a dozen banks.
Most of the pending cases have been consolidated before a federal judge in New York, while Charles Schwab has filed its own case against the banks, claiming it bought about $660bn of fixed-rate and floating-rate securities affected by the alleged Libor manipulation.