LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - The first UK court case linkedto a complaint over the alleged rigging of Libor interest rateshas been delayed until next year to allow Barclays thechance to hear if an appeals court dismisses part of the case.
Guardian Care Homes, a residential carehome operator basedin Wolverhampton, England, is suing Barclays for up to 70million pounds ($108.44 million) in a claim that it was mis-soldinterest rate hedging products that were based on Libor.
The trial is seen as a test case for small British firms whobelieve they were mis-sold such swaps and raises the prospect ofother companies linking future claims to interest rate riggingby banks.
Barclays has appealed a decision by Julian Flaux, the judgein the case at London's High Court, which allowed Guardian CareHomes to include claims relating to Libor manipulation in itscase against the bank.
Flaux said on Monday said the start of the trial should bedelayed until April 2014 so that Barclays' appeal can be heard.
The Guardian Care Homes case is the first to link acomplaint over the alleged mis-selling of products to theinvestigation into attempts to manipulate Libor and otherbenchmark interest rates.
Barclays was the first bank to be fined for trying to gameLibor, and the court case is shining a light on those involvedin its interest rate-setting process.
Barclays (BARC)