Deutsche Bank Urges Judge to Toss Ex-Trader Libor Scapegoat Suit
JAN 13, 2023 | REPUBLISHED BY LIT: JAN 15, 2023
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).
Connolly v. Deutsche Bank AG
(1:22-cv-09811)
District Court, S.D. New York
NOV. 17, 2022 | REPUBLISHED BY LIT: JAN 15, 2023
ORDER terminating 22 Letter Motion to Seal.
Given the trial that took place after Judge McMahon’s order, the Court is inclined to think that any remaining interest in grand jury secrecy is outweighed by the strong presumption in favor of public access to the unredacted complaint.
Out of an abundance of caution, however, the Court will give the Department of Justice and any party who believes otherwise an opportunity to be heard on the issue.
No later than February 8, 2023, Plaintiff’s counsel shall serve a copy of this endorsed letter and a copy of the Amended Complaint with proposed redactions highlighted on counsel for the Government in the underlying criminal case.
Any application — by DOJ or Defendant — to maintain the unredacted amended complaint under seal shall be filed by February 14, 2023. In the absence of an application by that date, the amended complaint will be unsealed in its entirety without further notice.
The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate Docket No. 22. SO ORDERED.
(Signed by Judge Jesse M. Furman on 2/7/2023) (vfr) (Entered: 02/07/2023)