New York Bank Files Libor Lawsuit: Report

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- A New York lender has filed a lawsuit related to the Libor-setting scandal, alleging that it lost interest income because rates on loans tied to the London interbank offered rate were artificially depressed, according to a published media report.

The Berkshire Bank of New York filed the proposed class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York last week, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The bank claims "tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars" of loans made or sold in New York state were affected by manipulated Libor rates, the Journal reported.

Defendants in the suit are the 16 banks on the panel that set the U.S. dollar Libor rate from August 2007 to May 2010, the newspaper added.

The Berkshire Bank says on its Web site that it has 11 branches in New York and New Jersey.

In June, Barclays PLC (BCS) paid about $450 million to U.S. and U.K. regulators to settle investigations into its manipulation of Libor rates.

In the settlement, the bank admitted that its employees had attempted to manipulate Libor.

The resulting scandal led to the resignations of Barclays' chairman and CEO.

Observers expect more settlements with other large banks, the Journal noted.

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This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.