Banks face billions of dollars of claims after Barclays settles Barclays is named as one of around 20 defendants, which also include Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC, as well as US lenders Bank of America, Citigroup and JP Morgan. The action is co-ordinated with five other lawsuits, including a claim by discount brokerage Charles Schwab against 11 banks, including Barclays. Asked what impact the Barclays" settlement would have on the case, he said: "In our judgment it greatly increases and demonstrates the credibility of the allegations. What's helpful is not just the settlement but the admission of wrongdoing. Court documents claim Baltimore "entered into 'hundreds of millions of dollars" of interest rate swaps with defendants." The case alleges that between August 2007 and May 2010 the defendants "conspired to suppress Libor below the levels at which it would have been set had [they] accurately reported their borrowing costs to the BBA" - the British Banker's Association that publishes the rate. Other municipalities are keenly following the action. In America, 40 states allow muncipalities to enter into swap agreements. The IMF calculated the market was worth up to $500bn in 2010. In its case, Schwab alleges: "Surreptitiously bilking investors of their rightful rates of returns on their investments, defendants reaped hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars in ill-gotten gains." The cases are being brought under the Sherman Act, America's anti-trust legislation, which allows for triple damages. Lawyers for the banks are due on Friday to file an attempt to have the Baltimore case thrown out. But Mr Hausfeld said Barclays' settlement "should undermine any effort to dismiss the claim on the basis that it is implausible that the alleged events took place."