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UPDATE 1-Talks on industry Libor settlement not advanced-D.Bank

Thu, 31st Jan 2013 14:55

* Global Libor settlement discussed in Davos - Deutsche CEO

* Unclear if any deal can be reached - CEO

* Bank's litigation reserves at 1.8 bln euros

FRANKFURT, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Talks over an industry-widesettlement for banks involved in the Libor rate-fixing scandalhave been informal, and are not advanced, Deutsche Bank co-chief executive Anshu Jain said on Thursday.

Axel Weber, chairman of Swiss bank UBS, raised thepossibility of an industry-wide settlement for the rest of thebanks involved in the scandal at a meeting of top bankers inDavos earlier this month, sources familiar with the matter toldReuters.

UBS and Britain's Barclays have already reachedsettlements with regulators.

"I can confirm there were unofficial discussions (inDavos)," Jain said on the sidelines of a press conference,adding the talks were very informal and not at a very advancedstage.

Jain said that banks had different interests and it wastherefore unclear if any agreement would be reached.

He said an industry-wide settlement might help banks resolvepotential civil suits which could follow criminal and regulatoryinvestigations.

"A Libor settlement would make sense for civil suits," hesaid.

U.S., British and other regulators are investigating morethan a dozen global banks over manipulating the London interbankoffered rate (Libor), a benchmark used for trillions of dollarsof financial instruments ranging from home loans to complexderivative products.

For banks, a collective agreement would reduce the risk thatany individual bank will be singled out and face a particularbacklash. A group agreement is difficult to attain but has beendone in the past in the tobacco industry, for example.

The main obstacles facing a group settlement are likely tobe a hesitancy on the part of the investment banks to worktogether in the fevered atmosphere surrounding the Liborinvestigations and the large number of regulators involved ininvestigating cases.

Deutsche Bank has increased its litigation reserves to 1.8billion euros ($2.4 billion) from 800 million euros, some ofwhich is related to the Libor probe.

In addition, 2 billion euros of contingent liabilitiesremain, the bank said, referring to possible losses over andabove existing legal provisions.

Money for lawsuits has so far only been set aside forpossible regulatory or criminal cases, but not for potentialcivil suits.

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