“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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