Libor Rate Scandal Set to Spread

I need you to keep it as low as possible. If you do that … I’ll pay you, you know, US$50,000, US$100,000… whatever you want … I’m a man of my word — Trader A UBS AG’s US$1.5 billion fine for rigging global interest rates expands the scandal to include bribery and highlights the influence of a trader in Tokyo who colluded with other banks to align their submissions.

Numerous people have asked me to comment on the LIBOR rate-rigging scandal. I have not done so previously because I had little to add. Zerohedge has done a fine job breaking every story. So have others.  I prefer to comment when I have an edge of some kind: a different angle, a different source, or if I can offer a more comprehensive analysis than other writers. As pertains to LIBOR, I still have no earth-shattering reports or breaking news. Rather, I am commenting because of repeated questions as to where I stand on the story.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group saw 1.3-billion pounds (US$2.1-billion) wiped off its value on Tuesday following a report that it could face criminal charges as part of an impending settlement over its role in a global interest rate rigging scandal. The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. authorities were pushing RBS to accept criminal charges as part of a settlement which will see it fined up to 500-million pounds for the attempted manipulation of the London interbank lending rate (Libor) and other benchmark interest rates.

Another domino fell in the widening Libor scandal Wednesday as UBS AG admitted that dozens of its employees worked together to manipulate the global benchmark and agreed to pay a $1.5-billion fine. That’s three times the Libor penalty paid by London-based Barclays PLC earlier this year, and the process has really just got going.

GENEVA — Switzerland‘s UBS AG agreed Wednesday to pay some $1.5 billion in fines to international regulators following a probe into the rigging of a key global interest rate. In admitting to fraud, Switzerland’s largest bank became the second bank, after Britain’s Barclays PLC, to settle over the rate-rigging scandal. The fine, which will be paid to authorities in the U.S., Britain and Switzerland, also comes just over a week after HSBC PLC agreed to pay nearly $2 billion for alleged money laundering.

GENEVA — Switzerland‘s UBS AG agreed Wednesday to pay some $1.5 billion in fines to international regulators following a probe into the rigging of a key global interest rate. In admitting to fraud, Switzerland’s largest bank became the second bank, after Britain’s Barclays PLC, to settle over the rate-rigging scandal. The fine, which will be paid to authorities in the U.S., Britain and Switzerland, also comes just over a week after HSBC PLC agreed to pay nearly $2 billion for alleged money laundering.