Japan's MUFG to pay $30 million to end yen Libor cases in U.S.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two units of Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc ("MUFG") agreed to pay $30 million to end private U.S. antitrust litigation claiming they conspired with other banks to rig yen Libor and Euroyen Tibor benchmark rates at investors' expense.

The preliminary settlement with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp was detailed in filings late Friday in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, and requires a judge's approval.

MUFG denied wrongdoing, court papers show.

It is the fifth bank to settle with the investors, joining Citigroup Inc, Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings Plc and JPMorgan Chase & Co. The five settlements total $236 million.

Investors such as the California State Teachers' Retirement System and J. Kyle Bass' hedge fund Hayman Capital Management LP had accused more than 20 banks of conspiring to rig yen Libor, Euroyen Tibor and Euroyen Tibor futures contracts to benefit their own positions from 2006 through at least 2010.

Banks use the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) and Tokyo Interbank Offered Rate (Tibor) to set costs of borrowing from each other. Libor is often used to set rates on mortgages, credit cards and other loans.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New YorkEditing by Jonathan Oatis)