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(Adds details on settlement, background on case, comments fromlawyer and Barclays)
By Nate Raymond
NEW YORK, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Barclays Plc has agreedto pay nearly $20 million to resolve a U.S. class action lawsuitaccusing the British bank of manipulating the Libor benchmarkinterest rate, according to court papers filed Wednesday.
The proposed deal, disclosed in court papers filed infederal court in New York, is the first such settlement ofprivate litigation in the United States against various banksaccused of manipulating the London interbank offered rate.
The deal, which must be approved by a federal judge, followsearlier agreements by Barclays in 2012 to pay $453 million tosettle investigations by U.S. and British authorities related toLibor.
As part of the $19.98 million settlement, on behalf offutures contract traders, Barclays has agreed to cooperate withthe plaintiffs, who hope documents and information the bankprovides will aid in resolving claims against other banks.
Christopher Lovell, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said thedeal "is a good ice breaker settlement for the class and willprovide helpful cooperation in continuing to prosecute theclaims against the remaining defendants."
Kerrie Cohen, spokeswoman for Barclays, said in a statementthat the bank was "pleased to have reached an agreement tosettle in this matter - it is a step forward in resolvinganother legacy issue."
Libor, which is calculated based on submissions from a panelof banks, underpins hundreds of trillions of dollars oftransactions and is used to set interest rates on credit cards,student loans and mortgages.
U.S. and British authorities have charged severalindividuals and extracted billions of dollars in fines frombanks stemming from alleged manipulation of Libor and in relatedrates.
Barclays class-action settlement covers anyone whotransacted in Libor-based Eurodollar futures contracts oroptions on exchanges such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchangebetween Jan. 1, 2005, and May 31, 2010.
It stems from a series of lawsuits filed beginning in 2011and consolidated before U.S. District Judge Naomi ReiceBuchwald.
Other banks that have faced private lawsuits before Buchwaldover Libor include Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase& Co, Citigroup Inc and Credit Suisse Group AG, among others.
Buchwald gave the banks a significant win in March 2013 whenshe dismissed a "substantial portion" of claims facing them.
Buchwald at that time denied a motion to dismiss commoditymanipulation claims on Eurodollar futures and options during twoperiods, though in June 2014 she tossed claims arising one ofthose periods, from May 2008 to April 2009.
The cases are In Re: Libor-Based Financial InstrumentsAntitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court for the SouthernDistrict of New York, No. 11-md-2262. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by MeredithMazzilli and Leslie Adler)
