The Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed not to let accusations of LIBOR manipulation lead to the revocation of Deutsche Bank’s well-known seasoned issuer status, a streamlined process for issuing securities that large firms enjoy. The decision was detailed in a no-action letter issued on Monday.
Last month, Deutsche Bank and a U.K. subsidiary, DB Group Services, pleaded guilty to wire fraud for their role in manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate, agreeing to pay $775 million in criminal penalties to the Department of Justice. That brought the total amount of penalties against the bank to $2.5 billion following similar settlements with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, New York’s Department of Financial Services, and the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority. From 2003 through early 2011, numerous Deutsche Bank derivatives traders engaged in various schemes to move benchmark rates in a direction favorable to their trading positions.
