Citi, Six Other Banks Escape Suit Over Sovereign Bond Rigging

Citigroup Inc. and affiliates of six other major banks don’t have to face claims they rigged the multitrillion-dollar market for bonds backed by foreign governments and multinational institutions, a Manhattan federal judge ruled, dismissing most of the consolidated case.

The lawsuit targeted about two dozen banks and four individual bankers. It accused the financial institutions of manipulating the $9 trillion to $15 trillion market for “supranational, sub-sovereign, and agency” bonds, or SSA bonds.

They conspired through industry chatrooms where they’re only supposed to coordinate on a new bond’s opening value, not collude on secondary prices, the suit said. It was ...