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Barclays Agrees to Settle Libor-Rigging Inquiry for $100 Million

A Barclays bank branch in London. The multistate agreement announced Monday comes about four years after the bank paid $450 million to settle Libor manipulation claims with federal and British authorities.Credit...Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

Barclays is once again paying money to regulators to settle allegations that its employees sought to manipulate a major benchmark interest rate.

On Monday, the British bank agreed to pay $100 million to settle an investigation brought by 44 states into accusations of bid-rigging involving the London interbank offered rate, or Libor. Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, announced the multistate settlement with Barclays, which comes roughly four years after the bank paid $450 million to settle claims of Libor manipulation with federal and British authorities.

The settlement with state regulators involves allegations that the bank and its employees artificially manipulated Libor prices in contractual arrangements that defrauded government entities and nonprofit organizations out of millions of dollars.

“As a result of Barclays’ misconduct, government entities and not-for-profits were defrauded of funds that otherwise could have been used to benefit the people of New York,” Mr. Schneiderman said in a statement.

Barclays is the first bank to reach a settlement with state regulators over claims involving the manipulation of Libor, a key interest rate that is used to set prices in many consumer contracts and derivatives transactions. Mr. Schneiderman’s office noted that Barclays had cooperated with the multistate investigation.

In a statement on Monday, Barclays said it was pleased to have resolved that matter. “We believe this settlement is in the best interests of our shareholders and clients, and allows us to continue to focus on the future.”

In 2012, Barclays reached a settlement with the Department of Justice, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and authorities in Britain over allegations that from 2005 to 2009 some of its employees had sought to manipulate Libor to increase the bank’s profits.

Barclays was the first of several banks to settle claims over interest rate rigging with federal and British authorities. In all, banks have paid billions of dollars in fines to settle the investigations.

The investigation into the rigging of Libor would later expand to look into claims that banks had sought to manipulate foreign currency prices as well.

Mr. Schneiderman’s office said governmental entities and nonprofits will be notified if they are eligible to receive restitution under the settlement. About $7 million being paid by Barclays will go toward paying for expenses incurred during the investigation.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: Barclays to Pay $100 Million in Libor Case. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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