Lowey Dannenberg Commences Class Action Alleging Manipulation of Libor and Eurodollar Futures Contracts

On April 19, 2011, Lowey Dannenberg filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of a proposed class of traders who transacted in Eurodollars futures contracts and other Libor based derivatives (e.g., interest rate swaps) traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange ("CME") and the Chicago Board of Trade ("CBOT"). Libor is the most widely referenced interest rate index in the world, and serves as the basis for settlement (or "underlying commodity") of interest rate futures and options contracts traded on the CME and CBOT, the world's most significant Libor-based interest rate futures, options, and swaps exchanges. Libor anchors contracts amounting to some $300 trillion, the equivalent of $45,000 for every human being on the planet. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that beginning as early as 2006 and continuing though at least 2009, the Defendants herein, as USD Libor contributor banks, intentionally caused and created artificial Libor rates, including artificially suppressed Libor rates, by submitting false Libor rates to the British Bankers' Association, the organization responsible for collecting and publishing Libor rates. The case was filed in the Northern District of Illinois and is currently pending before Judge Elaine E. Bucklo