Remember when a tobacco company (Liggett) sought to avoid prosecution by turning over its knowledge of wrongful acts by big tobacco? Last year, Schwab sued 11 major banks claiming LIBORrates were fraudulently manipulated fraud. Now, Bloomberg has run a February 15 story regarding Canadian officials looking at LIBOR fraud charges against uber banks, aided apparently by a bank seeking to turn its knowledge into immunity. Here are key excerpts from the Bloomberg’s article:
"JPMorgan Chase & Co., Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) and HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) are among at least seven firms accused by another bank of participating in a conspiracy to manipulate the price of derivatives worldwide for more than three years.
The unnamed bank, seeking immunity, told Canada’s Competition Bureau that traders and cash brokers conspired to influence the Yen London interbank offered rate from 2007 to 2010 to profit on interest-rate derivative positions linked to the benchmark. The bureau spelled out the probe in documents it filed with the Ontario Superior Court in May.
The documents, shown yesterday to Bloomberg News by court clerks, offer one of the most detailed accounts yet as watchdogs in Europe, Asia and the U.S. look into concerns that firms conspired to manipulate interest rates serving as benchmarks for trillions of dollars of financial products. Canada also is investigating Citigroup Inc. (C), Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS), ICAP Plc (IAP) and RP Martin Holdings Ltd., the court documents show."