Deutsche Bank AG asked a judge to toss out a former trader’s lawsuit that claims the company made him a scapegoat for its manipulation of the Libor market.
(Bloomberg) — Deutsche Bank AG asked a judge to toss out a former trader’s lawsuit that claims the company made him a scapegoat for its manipulation of the Libor market.
The bank’s lawyers said in a filing Friday that contrary to Matthew Connolly’s claims, there is no evidence that it “initiated” the trader’s prosecution or made false and misleading statements about him.
Connolly, who once led the bank’s New York trading desk, was convicted in 2018 of wire fraud and conspiracy and sentenced to nine months of home confinements and a $100,000 fine. But early last year a federal appeals court reversed his conviction saying prosecutors had failed to prove that Connolly and an alleged co-conspirator had influenced the bank into making false or misleading submissions for the London interbank offered rate.
Libor is based on a daily survey of short-term borrowing costs estimated by banks. It’s used to value trillions of dollars of financial products.
In November, Connolly filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit against the bank, seeking $150 million in damages.
In its request to have the suit dismissed, the bank’s lawyers say there was nothing malicious about the bank’s cooperation with federal prosecutors in their investigation of Connolly. “To the extent anyone is to blame for Mr. Connolly’s situation, it is not Deutsche Bank,” they said.
Deutsche Bank agreed to pay a $2.5 billion fine and make personnel changes to settle its part in the scandal.
The case is Connolly v. Deutsche Bank AG, 22-cv-9811, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
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