Crédit Agricole and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group won a significant victory when Judge George Daniels of the Southern District of New York dismissed all claims against a group of banks in a putative class action over alleged LIBOR rigging.
Investors claimed that since 2014 the banks had colluded to artificially depress the benchmark’s one- and three-month rates. S&C argued that the allegations didn’t support manipulation claims, noting that plaintiffs had failed to cite any evidence of collusion and contending that their statistical analyses were flawed.
In his order, Judge Daniels called the plaintiffs’ arguments “dubious” and “unreliable,” saying their allegations amount to speculation and “wishful thinking” about what the banks might have done. The court dismissed the claims against the foreign defendants, finding that their connection to the alleged conspiracy in the United States was “conclusory” and disproven by declarations submitted in the case.
The team representing Crédit Agricole is led by Joe Neuhaus. The team representing MUFG is led by Christopher Viapiano.