AG Brnovich announces $100 million settlement with Citibank
Jun 16, 2018, 4:22 AM | Updated: Jun 21, 2018, 2:04 pm
(AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
PHOENIX — Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced a $100 million settlement with Citibank over allegations that the bank manipulated LIBOR, according to his office.
LIBOR is the benchmark interest rate that “affects financial instruments worth trillions of dollars,” the statement said.
It operates to dictate short-term loans for small banks around the world.
Brnovich announced that about $2.75 million will go to Arizona non-profit organizations that were defrauded.
The organizations entered into interest rate swaps without knowing Citibank was colluding with other banks and manipulating LIBOR.
The group of 42 attorneys argued that Citibank concealed, misrepresented and failed to disclose information including U.S. dollar LIBOR submissions that would negatively impact Citibank publicity; LIBOR submittors occasionally asked employees in other bank units to avoid offering higher interest rates; and that Citibank expressed belief that LIBOR submissions were “inconsistent with their borrowing rates.”
The settlement included 41 states and the District of Columbia.