First Libor damages trial set to proceed The stage has been set for the first British damages claim trial over the manipulation of Libor after a London judge allowed a case brought by a care home operator against Barclays to go ahead. The trial is seen as a test case for other possible claims against banks involved in the global scandal over the rigging of the benchmark interest rate. John Walker, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses in the UK, said: "This legal battle will be watched carefully by the thousands of small businesses affected by mis-selling who may decide to take a similar route." The case could also prompt the disclosure of further potentially embarrassing details about senior management's involvement in manipulation of Libor after Judge Julian Flaux said the claimant, Guardian Care Homes, should be allowed to ask Barclays for more documents. Barclays paid a £290m fine in June when it became the first bank to settle allegations it tried to rig Libor and other benchmark interest rates. About a dozen other banks on three continents are also under investigation and at least one more settlement is expected to be agreed this year. Guardian Care Homes, based in Wolverhampton, had initially sued Barclays for up to £38m for alleged mis-selling of two interest rate swaps in 2007 and 2008. The operator of 27 care homes in the UK had bought the swaps to refinance two loans with Barclays. Judge Flaux on Monday allowed Guardian Care Homes to augment its claims to include the allegation of "false and fraudulent representation." Adrian Beltrami, Barclays" lawyer, had argued the claim should be dismissed on the grounds that the swaps" contracts did not specify how the Libor rate was set. Judge Flaux dismissed some of his arguments as "shadow boxing" and a "wholly artificial exercise." He agreed with the care home provider's lawyer Tim Lord that Barclays" clients could implicitly assume the Libor process was "objective and transparent" as set out in the rate setting rules of the British Bankers' Association. "Any senior manager who gave the matter a moment's thought was to know that any customer would be entitled to expect that the rate had not been manipulated," Judge Flaux said. The case could have wider ramifications for banks globally as Libor underpins the terms of $350tn of borrowing contracts worldwide, from interest rate swaps in the UK to credit card payments in the US. A Barclays" spokesman said the bank did not believe the case had merit and would defend it. "This business had a suite of advisers and a lot of financial experience and skill in-house," he added.