CORRECTED-U.S. credit union regulator sues global banks over LIBOR

(Corrects timing of UBS settlement over LIBOR in paragraph 7 to"last December" from "last week")

By Karen Freifeld

NEW YORK, Sept 23 (Reuters) - A U.S. credit union regulatoron Wednesday sued 13 banks over alleged manipulation of LIBOR,claiming credit unions lost millions of dollars in interestincome as a result of rate-rigging.

The National Credit Union Administration brought the lawsuitagainst JPMorgan Chase & Co, Credit Suisse Group AG, UBS AG and 10 other international banks onbehalf of five failed credit unions.

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas, saysthe credit unions held tens of billions in investments and otherassets that paid interest streams pegged to LIBOR.

"The credit unions received less in interest income thanthey were otherwise entitled to receive," the lawsuit says, as adirect result of the conspiracy, which violated state andfederal anti-trust laws.

Spokesmen for JPMorgan Chase and Credit Suisse declinedcomment. UBS did not immediately respond to a request forcomment.

Over a dozen banks and brokerage firms have beeninvestigated worldwide over alleged manipulation of LIBOR, thebenchmark for setting interest rates around the globe.

UBS last December agreed to pay about $1.5 billion inpenalties to resolve criminal, civil and regulatory probes bythe United States, Britain, Switzerland and Japan into allegedrate manipulation.

Barclays Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc have also reached settlements with authorities.

Big banks already face a slew of LIBOR lawsuits by investorsand some local governments over the alleged conspiracy.

The banks are accused of artificially manipulating LIBORbetween 2005 and 2010 by falsely reporting the interest rates atwhich they were able to borrow.

LIBOR, which stands for the London Interbank Offered Rate,is the benchmark interest rate for trillions of dollars ofcredit cards, mortgages, student loans, variable interest-ratenotes and other lending products.

The five failed corporate credit unions are U.S. Central,Western Corporate, Members United, Southwest and Constitution.

The case is National Credit Union Administration Aboard v.Credit Suisse Group AG, et al, U.S. District Court, District ofKansas.

The other banks include Lloyds Banking Group Plc,Westlb AG, Royal Bank of Scotland, CooperatieveCentrale Raiffeisen Boerenfleenbank B.A., TheNorinchukin Bank, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd, HBOS Plc, Societe Generale SA and Royal Bank of Canada. (Editing by Eric Walsh and Gerald E. McCormick)