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Deutsche Bank to Settle Libor Manipulation Case for $240M

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Per a Reuters article, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft (DB - Free Report) has agreed to settle an antitrust case in the United States that accuses it of plotting with some other banks and manipulating the Libor benchmark interest rate.

The German bank is required to pay about $240 million despite denying of any wrongdoings. While the preliminary settlement documents were filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Tuesday, court approval for the same is still awaited.

Deutsche Bank took the step toward settlement in order to steer clear of extra costs of litigation. Per Troy Gravitt, the bank’s spokesman, Deutsche Bank was pleased to settle.

The lawsuit was filed in 2011 by investors including the city of Baltimore and Yale University in New Haven, CT, accusing 16 banks of conspiring to manipulate Libor.

Libor or the London Interbank Offered Rate, an important benchmark set by the British Bankers’ Association, is used by the financial institutions across the globe to set the interest rates for lending purposes on several transactions.

Rigging of the benchmark interest rates has resulted in billions of dollars of regulatory fines against the banks worldwide. Over the years, Deutsche Bank and other banks such as Citigroup (C - Free Report) , JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM - Free Report) and HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBC - Free Report) have made settlements with the U.S. financial regulators over such manipulations.

On Monday, Deutsche Bank had confirmed its plans to float a minority stake in DWS, its asset management arm, by mid-March 2018, as promised in during the capital raise in 2017. (Read more: Deutsche Bank Confirms Plan to Float Minority Stake in DWS)

Though this settlement is a step for the bank in the right direction, it will lead to rise in litigation expenses. Also, the bank’s revenues remain under pressure owing to the low interest environment and a horde of legal issues.

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