The Justice Department has declined to prosecute Citigroup Inc. after probing into whether the bank was involved in rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), citing their decision based on the “facts and circumstances as the Department of Justice currently understands them.” However, other U.S. and international authorities are still investigating.
While this does not mean Citigroup has been fully absolved, they have escaped criminal charges from the Department of Justice. Citigroup has expected to pay fines to settle various Libor-related investigations, setting aside $2.85 billion for legal settlements. Citigroup is in active discussions to resolve the Justice Department’s probe into foreign-exchange markets, and last November Citigroup agreed to pay $1.02 billion to resolve currency trading probes with three regulators in the U.S. and U.K.
Just last month, Deutsche Bank was ordered to pay a record $2.5 billion to settle Libor-related charges. This was the latest in a line of other banks to settle, including Barclays, UBS and the Royal Bank of Scotland, among others.
Libor rigging has been under investigation since 2008. Investigators have been looking into allegations that traders at some of the world’s largest banks manipulated Libor rates to benefit certain investment positions.
Citigroup also settled with the European Union for $70 million euros in 2013 over allegations that they rigged interest rates tied to Libor.
Citigroup and several other large banks still face investigation, and settlements remain the subjects of multibillion dollar civil lawsuits pending in the United States. The banks face bilions of dollars in potential liability in these lawsuits. The investment fraud lawyers at Dimond, Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A. are involved in lawsuits regarding Libor rigging. For more information, please contact us today.
