Deutsche Bank and Matthew Connolly have agreed to dismiss the malicious prosecution lawsuit brought by the former trader.
This becomes clear from a document filed by Connolly on July 10, 2024, at the New York Southern District Court.
The Stipulation of Voluntary Dismissal states:
“IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED, by and between the parties and their respective counsel, that the above-captioned action is voluntarily dismissed, with prejudice, against defendant Deutsche Bank AG pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii)”.
The case was filed in November 2022. The trader sought heavy compensation from his ex-employer over what he calls “the destruction of his life”.
In this action, Connolly asserted a claim against his former employer Deutsche Bank for malicious prosecution of a criminal case brought against him for alleged manipulation of Deutsche Bank’s LIBOR submissions.
Connolly alleged that Deutsche Bank steered the prosecution toward him by providing the government with false and misleading information (and omissions) both during the investigation—which the government effectively outsourced to Deutsche Bank—and during trial. Connolly claims that Deutsche Bank maliciously prosecuted him to deflect the government’s attention from its top executives. The Second Circuit exonerated Connolly of any wrongdoing.
Deutsche Bank maintained that plaintiff’s claim is meritless because, among other reasons, (1) the U.S. government, not defendant initiated plaintiff’s prosecution, (2) there was no lack of probable cause to believe plaintiff committed a crime at the time of his prosecution and conviction (the Second Circuit subsequently reversed the conviction based on its interpretation of the law), and (3) in any event, Deutsche Bank did not act with malice.
