The explicit use, or misuse of AFMA (an Australian industry association) is a pillar of the US class action claim brought by Sonterra Capital, Frontpoint Financial and Richard Dennis against an array of banks over the alleged BBSW rate fix.The statement of claim in a matter to be heard in a New York court sets out in unambiguous terms the mechanics and lead actors of the alleged rate fixing conspiracy.Yesterday, Banking Day headlined "AFMA slaughtered in US BBSW claim", and the following material is a companion to that report. The Australian Financial Markets Association distanced itself from the matter in comments reported yesterday. The bank defendants - ANZ, CBA, Macquarie, NAB, Westpac and others - "used their domination of the AFMA market governance committees, including the BBSW and NTI committees, to control the BBSW rule-making process, conceal complaints from other market participants, and perpetuate the BBSW methodology that they used to secretly manipulate BBSW," one section of the claim begins.A later cracker is that the banks "used their domination of the AFMA market committees to propose rules and regulations that kept the committees' activities secret."One of the biggest claims: "The defendants used their control of the BBSW rate-setting process to keep BBSW susceptible to manipulation."The body of the material unfolds almost as tragedy."The existence of the BBSW and NTI committees, and the supposed oversight that these committees maintained over the BBSW rate-setting process, created the illusion that BBSW was a trustworthy, reliable market rate."By placing BBSW-based derivatives traders on the market governance committees, the defendants created a conflict of interest. "In many instances, defendants went one step further and placed BBSW manipulators in important positions on the BBSW and NTI committees. "For example, Paul Woodward, who was ANZ's single face to market during the class period, also served as ANZ's representative on both the BBSW and NTI Committees. "ANZ also appointed traders Matthew Morris and Andrew Miller to serve on both the NTI and BBSW committees during the class period. "All three of ANZ's representatives regularly manipulated BBSW. (See Part II.A-B supra). "Similarly, Westpac placed its most prolific BBSW manipulators, Colin Roden, Sophie Johnston, and Michael Dodd on both the NTI and BBSW committees during the class period. "In fact, Sophie Johnston served as chairperson of the NTI committee in at least 2010 and 2011. "NAB traders Paul Howarth and Michael Tsakiris served as NAB representatives on the NTI committee, during the same time period when Howarth and Tsakiris regularly manipulated BBSW. "NAB traders Robert Collins and Hermeet Najjhur, both of whom also manipulated BBSW during the class period, represented NAB on the BBSW committee. "The defendants appointed senior executives at the highest ranks of the AFMA, including Chair (Morgan Stanley) and Deputy Chair (NAB) of the AFMA, ensuring that oversight of the BBSW process by the board of directors was illusory because of each banks' conflicting motive to keep BBSW susceptible to manipulation so they could generate additional illicit profits. "The following defendants placed senior executives on the AFMA Board