Barclays must face U.S. class action over Libor

From Reuters –

“Barclays Plc shareholders who accused the British bank in a lawsuit of inflating its stock price by manipulating the interest rate known as Libor may pursue their case as a class action, a U.S. judge ruled on Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan, whose May 2013 dismissal of the case was overturned by an appeals court, said the claims were similar enough to justify letting the shareholders sue as a group.

She nonetheless said in a 77-page decision that the shareholders face "significant obstacles" to proving damages, including over whether any stock price inflation had dissipated once Barclays started reporting Libor accurately.

Class actions make it easier for plaintiffs to recover larger sums at lower costs than if they sue individually.

Barclays spokesman Marc Hazelton declined to comment.”

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World's big banks set to be sued in London over forex rigging

From The Independent –

“The world’s biggest banks face being pursued through the UK civil courts this autumn for billions of pounds in compensation payments for the actions of its traders in rigging foreign exchange rates.

Five multinational banks – which include Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and HSBC – agreed this week to pay off aggrieved investors in order to settle a class action brought in New York.

They joined four other global banks that settled earlier in the year. The total compensation pledged to investors, which are made up of hedge funds and pension funds, has now reached $2bn, according to Hausfeld, the law firm that brought the case on behalf of the investors.”

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ANZ class action suit set to begin in Australia

From BBC

“A class action suit filed against Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), one of Australia's big four banks, is set to begin on Monday.

Some 38,000 customers have taken the bank to court over claims that it charged them "exorbitant fees".

These include 'dishonour' fees on bank accounts, as well as over- limit fees and late payment fees on credit cards.

A lawyer representing the customers estimated the total fees charged by ANZ to be around A$50m ($46m).”

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