U.K. Judge Rejects Barclays' LIBOR Anonymity Bid

LONDON (AP) -- A British court has rejected an attempt by Barclays (NYSE: BCS  ) to shield the names of more than 100 present and former employees of the bank allegedly involved in manipulating a key interest rate index or who for other reasons came to the attention of investigators.

Justice Julian Flaux ruled Thursday that granting anonymity would be an affront to open justice. He noted that many names, including former CEO Bob Diamond, were already on the public record.

Barclays has admitted that employees, sometimes directed by senior executives, submitted false rates used for calculating the London interbank offered rate. Several global banks every day help compile the LIBOR, which is used to price trillions of dollars in global contracts.

The bank has already been fined about $450 million by U.S. and British agencies.