New York and Connecticut led the working group of state attorneys-general investigating Barclays’ role in rigging US dollar Libor, the benchmark interbank lending rate, between 2005 and 2009 — something US officials described on Monday as “fraudulent and anti-competitive conduct”.

As part of the settlement, Barclays neither admitted to, nor denied, the allegations of its involvement in manipulating Libor or Euribor, the Euro Interbank Offered Rate.

However, the bank agreed to pay a fine of $100m, which will be shared among 43 US states and the District of Columbia.

“There has to be one set of rules for everyone, no matter how rich or how powerful, and that includes big banks and other financial institutions that engage in fraud or impair the fair functioning of financial markets,” said Eric Schneiderman, the New York state attorney-general, on Monday.

“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.”

Barclays said it was “pleased to have resolved the state attorneys-general’s investigation”.

“We believe this settlement is in the best interests of our shareholders and clients, and allows us to continue to focus on the future and serve our clients,” the bank said on Monday.

Monday’s settlement is just the latest development in a series of investigations by global authorities into interest-rate rigging.

In 2012, Barclays was the first bank to settle with the US Justice Department, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the UK’s Financial Services Authority over Libor-rigging, paying fines of £290m. That settlement resulted in high-level resignations of several top directors at Barclays, including the bank’s then chief executive Bob Diamond.

Barclays later paid a $60m penalty for not respecting an agreement it signed with US and UK authorities to avoid prosecution for Libor-rigging.

In 2014, the bank became the first global bank to reach a settlement with investors over its alleged role in the rate-rigging scandal, agreeing to pay just under $20m to settle a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of several investors including German fund group Metzler Investment and two hedge funds run by Austrian fund company FTC Capital.

More recently, a judge at Southwark Crown Court jailed four former Barclays bankers for conspiring to manipulate the benchmark interbank lending rate.

Their conviction followed the conviction of former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes, who is serving an 11-year sentence for conspiring to manipulate Libor.

Further settlements are expected between US authorities and other global banks involved in the rate-rigging scandal.

Mr Schneiderman said Barclays is the “first of several” banks under investigation by the state attorneys-general in relation to Libor manipulation.

Brian Frosh, the Maryland attorney-general who participated in the working group, said Monday’s settlement was “the first, but certainly not the last, with major international financial institutions that manipulated interest rate benchmarks for their own gain”.

(Published by Financial Times - August 9, 2016)