NEW YORK, March 14 (Reuters) - The Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporation sued 16 of the world's largest banks on Friday,accusing them of collusively suppressing interest rates.
The lawsuit, filed in the federal district court in NewYork, was the latest to accuse financial institutions ofconspiring to manipulate Libor, or the London Interbank OfferedRate.
The FDIC said the defendants' conduct caused substantiallosses to 38 banks that the U.S. regulator had taken intoreceivership since 2008, including Washington Mutual Bank andIndyMac Bank.
Among the banks named as defendants include Bank of AmericaCorp, Barclays PLC, Citigroup Inc, CreditSuisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG, HSBCHoldings PLC, JPMorgan Chase & Co, the Royal Bankof Scotland Group PLC and UBS AG.
The lawsuit also named as a defendant the British Banks'Association, the U.K. trade organization which during the periodat issue administered Libor.