RBS Wins Latest Round Of LIBOR Litigation

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has defeated claims brought by a customer that wished to exit from an interest rate swap contract referenced against the sterling London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR).

The Court of Appeal's ruling, however, could open banks up to other claims of misrepresentation in respect of financial instruments they sold that were referenced against LIBOR, an expert in banking litigation has said.

Mike Hawthorne of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said last week's Court of Appeal judgment is the highest level authority relating to the ability of customers to get out of contracts where their banks were engaged in the manipulation of the LIBOR rate.