Compliance

11:00 AM
Reuters
Reuters
News
Connect Directly
RSS
E-Mail
50%
50%

British bank RBS Bracing for Libor Rigging Fine - CEO

British bank RBS is braced to be punished over its role in the interest-rate rigging scandal that has rocked the industry, Chief Executive Stephen Hester said in an interview with The Guardian newspaper.

British bank RBS is braced to be punished over its role in the interest-rate rigging scandal that has rocked the industry, Chief Executive Stephen Hester said in an interview with The Guardian newspaper.

"RBS is one of the banks tied up in Libor. We'll have our day in that particular spotlight as well," Hester said in an interview published on the newspaper's website on Sunday.

Hester did not comment on the size of any possible fine but said that the investigation by Britain's financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), was "in process." He admitted the affair had been damaging to all banks.

"Even though when all the Libor (fines) are out most of it is going to be around the wrongdoings of a handful of people at a number of banks, those wrongdoings taint a whole industry beyond the handful of people and that makes it a huge problem."

New details from court documents and sources close to the Libor scandal investigation suggest that groups of traders working at three major European banks, including RBS, were heavily involved in rigging the rates.

RBS could not be reached for further comment.

(Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Copyright 2010 by Reuters. All rights reserved.

Register for Wall Street & Technology Newsletters
Video
Stressed Out by Compliance, Reputational Damage & Fines?
Stressed Out by Compliance, Reputational Damage & Fines?
Financial services executives are living in a "regulatory pressure cooker." Here's how executives are preparing for the new compliance requirements.