Lloyds agrees settlement with ex-trader claiming unfair dismissal - tribunal

LONDON, Oct (HKSE: 3366-OL.HK - news) 5 (Reuters) - Lloyds Banking Group (Other OTC: LLOBF - news) has reached an out-of-court settlement with a former trader who was claiming he was unfairly dismissed after the bank fired him following an investigation into alleged manipulation of Libor interest rates.

The central London employment tribunal that was due to hear the case on Monday said John Argent had withdrawn his claim after the issue was settled out of court. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) said it had no further details.

A spokesman for Lloyds confirmed the proceedings had been withdrawn at the tribunal, but said it could make no further comment.

Reuters has not been able to contact Argent, whose profile on LinkedIn said he was a senior director at Lloyds.

Lloyds was fined $370 million in July 2014 by U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . and British authorities for alleged manipulation of Libor and other interest rates.

The bank, which is part-owned by the British government, subsequently opened an investigation into its traders' behaviour and said in September 2014 it had fired eight employees. Argent was one of those people, a person familiar with the matter said.

Argent was one of several former traders claiming unfair dismissal in London employment tribunals after banks fired dozens of people in the wake of the Libor and foreign exchange market scandals. (Reporting by Steve Slater; Editing by Pravin Char)