Leaks to Dealbook suggest Deutsche Bank could have a settlement in May with DoJ, NY DFS, CFTC and Financial Conduct Authority in London. Amount of settlement is looking to be over $1.5B and involve a guilty plea to a criminal charge by a British sub of the bank.
Report is Deutsche Bank Nears Plea Deal Over Libor Manipulation.
Several comments in the article refer to ‘discounts’ given to the first-to-settle, which was UBS. Also comments that the last to settle pays a premium.
I’ve started tracking the Libor and Forex settlements in a spreadsheet. There are too many banks dealing with too many regulators on too many issues to keep everything straight in my little brain. Good infographic on settlements from WSJ here.
Total settlements to date are about $6.1B. Add a minimum of $1.5B for Deutsche Bank brings total to about $7.6B.
The Dealbook article says investigations are underway of BofA, JPMorgan, and Citigroup. Morgan and Citi have already settled up with the European Commission so I’m guessing that have a big exposure in the U.S.
Two things are noticeable in my spreadsheet. First, there is no settlement with DoJ, CFTC, or FCA for those three, Deutsche Bank, or Societe General.
More ominous, there are no settlements with NYDFS with any banks, according to the WSJ info. This article explains that Deutsche Bank is the first bank investigated by DFS over Libor.
I just tuned in to the DFS angle, so don’t know if DFS is going to be a part of the BofA, JPMorgan, and Citigroup settlements. I don’t know if they will go back and open investigations of UBS, RBS, Barclays, and Rabobank.
The Wall Street Journal article on the leaks explains that DFS only has authority over some of the major banks, specifically just those with charters in New York State.
Let’s keep our eyes open for the settlement next month. I’ll be particularly interested to see what DFS does.