[1/2] A sign for the Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto, Ontario, Canada December 13, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Thursday said American cities may pursue class-action claims accusing eight large banks of driving up interest rates they paid on a popular municipal bond. Cities led by Baltimore, Philadelphia and San Diego accused the banks of colluding to raise rates on more than 12,000 variable-rate demand obligations (VRDOs) from 2008 to 2016. Cities accused the eight banks of conspiring not to compete for remarketing services, and artificially inflating rates by sharing information about bond inventories and planned rate changes. The case is Philadelphia et al v Bank of America Corp et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

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Persons: Carlos Osorio, Jesse Furman, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Wells, San Diego, Banks, Furman, Dan Brockett, Jonathan Stempel, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Royal Bank of Canada, REUTERS, U.S, Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, JPMorgan, Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, al, Bank of America Corp, Court, Southern District of, Thomson Locations: Toronto , Ontario, Canada, Manhattan, Baltimore, Philadelphia, San, colluding, U.S, Southern District, Southern District of New York, New York