Zimmer, Citron & Clarke Files Appellate Briefs in LIBOR Litigation

Washington, D.C. – Zimmer, Citron & Clarke LLP filed two opening briefs in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on behalf of plaintiffs seeking to revive claims arising from the manipulation of LIBOR, which—prior to the scandal giving rise to these cases—was one of the world’s most important financial benchmarks.

The appeal challenges a series of rulings issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in multidistrict litigation involving many of the world’s largest financial institutions, and it seeks to overturn the entry of summary judgment on claims that more than a dozen global banks coordinated to manipulate LIBOR during a period of market turmoil.

LIBOR was intended to reflect the banks’ independent determination of where they could likely receive offers of unsecured loans under specified conditions. Plaintiffs contend that, during the financial crisis, banks instead acted in concert to make artificially low submissions to protect their reputations and bottom lines.

“Some of the world’s largest financial institutions acted in concert to artificially suppress LIBOR, affecting trillions of dollars in financial instruments tied to the benchmark, and these briefs detail the extensive evidence supporting those claims,” said Eric Citron, partner at Zimmer, Citron & Clarke, which serves as coordination counsel for plaintiffs-appellants.

Plaintiffs’ joint brief explains that the district court improperly disregarded extensive evidence showing that defendants coordinated to suppress their LIBOR submissions in violation of the Sherman Act. Evidence of hundreds of communications involving the banks’ own employees show them coordinating their conduct and acknowledging that LIBOR was “far too low” as a result. The separate brief filed by a subset of plaintiffs explains that the evidence also amply supports common-law claims sounding in fraud and breach of contract.

The appeals in case nos. 25-2756, 25-2792, 25-2824 & 25-3055 are pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.