Barclays takes new Libor rate-rigging allegations to appeal court Misconduct by Barclays in relation to the manipulation of Libor, a key interest rate, "goes further and wider than the regulatory findings," it has been alleged in court documents that shine a further light on the activities of its traders. Barclays is asking the Court of Appeal to overturn an earlier ruling that Guardian Care Homes, which is suing Barclays over interest-rate swaps, can amend its claim to include Libor-related allegations. In its written submissions, the care home operator has alleged that disclosure given by Barclays includes evidence that Mark Dearlove, a senior liquidity banker, had received complaints from JPMorgan that Barclays" dollar libor submissions were artificially low. I don't know what you guys are playing at. You - we know you're paying 540m, why are you setting Libor rates at 530? . . . Mr Dearlove said to another employee, according to the transcript. The evidence also includes a heavily redacted letter sent by Barclays" lawyers to the Monetary Authority of Singapore concerning the bank's internal investigation into former Barclays employee Quan Hui Lee. Mr Lee was based in London alongside Ian Pike and John Scammell who were Barclays sterling Libor submitters before he was transferred to Singapore. The written arguments claim that "Barclays submitted dishonest 3 month sterling Libor rates: on a number of occasions Mr Lee (based in Singapore) requested that Ian Pike/ John Scammell . . . make Libor submissions "at certain levels or in certain directions," which they did." They also claim that on occasion "Mr Lee asked Mr Pike/ Mr Scammell to submit inter alia as follows: "go get libor down" to which Mr Pike responded "I'll do my best boss!"; submit "v low Libor" and go "LOWER! Go for 3%. I want yr end 3mL to be 2.8% or at worst 2.88%."" Mr Lee passed the requests "either directly or through a colleague" who sat "on opposite sides of the same aisle" to Mr Pike, the documents allege. "The purpose of the fraud was to make profit or avoid losses on "Ricardo Master Fund" run by Barclays which held investments "linked to a fall in sterling Libor," the documents claim. The submissions add that Mr Lee "stood to benefit from a general and prolonged fall in Sterling Libor rather than single-day decreases." Robin Dicker, QC counsel for Barclays, which is defending the claim, alleged in written arguments that Guardian's lawsuit "can properly be characterised as opportunistic, seeking to rely on conduct which has no financial impact upon them as a reason to extricate themselves from the adverse effect of the swaps." Barclays said it had chosen not to object to the introduction of new evidence but added: "However the Bank does not consider any of the new evidence to be relevant to the issues in front of the Court of Appeal." It said it considers the case has no merit and added the business owes Barclays £70m. "The addition of a claim based on what happened with Libor does not change the Bank's view," it added. So far Barclays, UBS and RBS have settled for a total of £1.7bn in the wide-ranging Libor investigation, which involves at least 10 authorities around the world. Libor, or the London interbank offered rate, is a key benchmark that helps determine the prices of $350tn in products worldwide including derivative contracts. A ruling is expected later this year.