Court finds in favour of Royal Bank of Scotland in Libor and interest rate swaps mis-selling claims case
The High Court has today found in favour of Royal Bank of Scotland as the bank faced claims it had caused a real estate company losses from interest rates swaps mis-selling and Libor manipulation.
Manchester-based Property Alliance Group (PAG) was suing the bank for more than £30m, alleging it had been mis-sold four interest rate swap products and that it had wrongly been moved into the Global Restructuring Group.
The real estate company also claimed key managers at the lender knew Libor, which its interest rate swap products were pinned on, was being fixed.
However, in a judgment handed down today, Justice Asplin dismissed the claim on all of the grounds.
"We are pleased that the court has ruled in our favour in this case," said an RBS spokesperson. "We believe the judgment provides helpful clarification of the law on issues relating to Libor, the sale of interest rate swaps and the treatment of customers in the bank's GRG division."
A statement for PAG read:
We are of course disappointed with the outcome of the trial, we have always had complete confidence in our case, which grew as it progressed, and we will be considering the judgement in detail with our legal team to assess the basis for an appeal.
RBS, which is still 73 per cent owned by the state, has found itself in legal hot water on a number of occasions in recent years. The lender is set to be back in the courtroom again next spring, facing a £1bn claim from more than 27,000 shareholders who believe the bank mislead them ahead of a £12bn fundraising round in 2008.
The bank is also facing a potential mega fine from the US Department of Justice for mis-selling mortage-backed securities, with some estimates pegging the penalty at $12bn (£9.7bn).