Anglo Irish Bank is suing Mirabaud Securities Ltd claiming that the London stockbroker spread a false rumor that Merrill Lynch & Co had withdrawn a $2 billion credit line.
Anglo Irish claimed in a complaint filed in the High Court in London that a Mirabaud employee sent an e-mail February 29th that said: "Anglo-Irish, ML pull a $2bln credit line? Rumor."
Anglo Irish is seeking to find out who sent the e-mail and who received it.
The suit, released June 20th, was filed in April after regulators in the UK and Ireland said they were investigating cases of potential market abuse by traders manipulating share prices by spreading false rumors.
Anglo Irish shares have fallen 38 per cent this year.
Mirabaud refuses to tell Anglo Irish who sent the e-mail, according to the lawsuit. The Dublin-based bank has also asked for a court-ordered copy of communications between the source of the e-mail, Mirabaud and any third party between February 25th and March 7th. Merrill Lynch isn't accused of any wrongdoing.
Marc Pereire, Mirabaud Securities London-based chairman, didn't immediately respond to phone and e-mailed requests for comment. Laurent Koutaissoff, head of communications at Geneva- based Mirabaud & Cie, didn't have an immediate comment when reached by phone today.
Anglo Irish said in its lawsuit that the e-mail is both "untrue and defamatory." The bank's spokesman, Billy Murphy at Drury Communications in Dublin, didn't have an immediate comment today.
Merrill Lynch is a passive, minority investor in Bloomberg LP, parent of Bloomberg News.
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