Barclays, Deutsche Bank Accused of Gold Fix Manipulation | Bob Van Voris and Debarati Roy

March 5, 2014 (Bloomberg) -- Barclays Plc (BARC), Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) and three other banks were accused in a lawsuit of manipulating the London gold fix, a benchmark used throughout the $20 trillion market for the metal.

Kevin Maher, a New York resident who said he bought and sold gold and gold futures and options, sued yesterday in Manhattan federal court claiming the five banks overseeing the century-old benchmark colluded to manipulate it.

Maher cited press reports in his complaint, including a Bloomberg News story last week on a draft paper by two researchers showing what they said were unusual pricing patterns connected to the gold fix. The paper was the first study to raise the possibility that the banks, which also include Bank of Nova Scotia, HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and Societe Generale SA (GLE), may have been actively working together to manipulate the benchmark.

Authorities around the world, already investigating the manipulation of benchmarks from interest rates to foreign exchange, are also examining the gold market for signs of wrongdoing.

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