LONDON (Alliance News) - Three former traders at Barclays PLC, who were charged in the UK with manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), sued the bank in a US court claiming it was still responsible for covering their legal fees under a law protecting whistleblowers, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
Alex Pabon, Jay Merchant and Ryan Reich said they had cooperated with authorities in both countries with the widespread investigations into the manipulation of the benchmark interest rate. They claim they were acting in the interest of Barclays, Bloomberg said.
The three were the first US-based bankers to face prosecution in the UK Serious Fraud Office investigation launched in the manipulation of Libor. They were charged in April with conspiring with three former London-based bankers at Barclays to rig the rate.
Barclays informed the trio in May it would stop paying their legal fees, which they claim is illegal under the Dodd-Frank financial reform act in the US.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-30/barclays-sued-in-u-s-by-three-former-derivatives-traders.html
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.