[ Howard Haykin ]

Barclays faces its first British damages claim arising from the bank's Libor manipulation settlement.  And it's started off on a rather sour note, after a High Court in London released the names of 104 Barclays employees - including those of CEO Bob Diamond, Chairman John Varley, and other senior officials - that the bank provided to regulators during the Libor investigation. 

Barclays used best efforts to keep the names private, or under wraps, but it could not overcome a decision on Monday by Justice Julian Flaux, who ruled that they should be named publicly in court, in accordance with the principle for open justice.  Among the 104 so-called 'applicants' is a shortlist of 24 names of individuals referred to in the regulatory settlements over Libor.  The application for anonymity was challenged successfully by media organizations, including the Financial Times. 

The judge said that those on the short list are not necessarily implicated in any wrongdoing - some are and some aren’t.   He added that some of the individuals had been interviewed by the bank and had disciplinary proceeding taken against them.  Some were exonerated; others received warnings; others received more serious sanctions.  Judge Flaux said, it's not clear from documents and representations presented to the court which were which.

New York-Based Employees Released.   Two NY-based employees who were ousted last year - Ronti Pal, a managing director who headed U.S. interest rates trading, and Don Lee, a derivatives trader who reported to Mr. Pal.

The dispute, which comes to trial later this year, is being closely watched as a test case by other banks embroiled in the Libor scandal, which saw Barclays pay a $450m penalty in June and led to the ousting of CEO Diamond.  Since then UBS paid $1.6bn in December to US, UK and Swiss authorities to settle claims that it manipulated Libor. The Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to be the next bank to settle.

For further details, go to:   [FT.com, 1/24/13].