The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp is suing major US and international banks such as Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Credit Suisse for their alleged role in manipulating world-wide interest rates.

More than a dozen banks manipulated the London interbank offered rate, known as LIBOR, from August 2007 through at least mid-2011 to their own advantage and profit, according to the lawsuit filed today in Manhattan federal court. By submitting and publishing interbank lending rates determined by collusion instead of competition, the banks interfered with the competitive process in the markets for money and artificially increased the prices they charged and margins they earned.