STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 5 March 2014

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20. London Gold-Fix Banks Accused Of Manipulating Benchmark Used In $40 Trillion Metal Market

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-london-gold-fix-banks-accused-of-manipulation-in-us-lawsuit-report-2014-05

LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays <BARC.L>, Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> and three other banks have been accused in a lawsuit of manipulating the London gold fix, a benchmark used throughout the $20 trillion market for the metal, Bloomberg reported.
Kevin Maher, a New York resident who says he bought and sold gold and gold futures and options, sued in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, the report said, alleging the five banks overseeing the century-old benchmark colluded to manipulate it.

According to the report, Maher is seeking to represent a class of all investors who, from 2004 to now, held or traded gold and gold derivatives that were priced based on the gold fix or who held or traded COMEX gold futures or options.

In a statement, Deutsche said it believed the suit was without merit and that the bank "will vigorously defend against it". Barclays declined to comment. The other banks involved in the fix - ScotiaMocatta, Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> and HSBC <HSBA.L> - could not immediately be reached for comment.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-london-gold-fix-banks-accused-of-manipulation-in-us-lawsuit-report-2014-05#ixzz2v5iJ4lRr