UBS Faces $1 Billion+ Fine Over LIBOR Rate Rigging
December 17th, 2012$1.5 Billion Fine
Via: BBC:
Swiss banking giant UBS has agreed to pay $1.5bn (£940m) to US, UK and Swiss regulators for attempting to manipulate the Libor inter-bank lending rate.
It becomes the second major bank to be fined over Libor after Barclays was ordered to pay $450m to UK and US authorities in the summer.
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Meh, you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet.
Via: Reuters:
UBS AG is expected to be hit with a $1 billion (618.4 million pounds)-plus fine to settle charges of rigging Libor interest rates this week, making it the second bank to be brought to book for its role in the global scandal.
The fine, to be imposed by regulators in Britain and the United States, would be the latest blow for the Swiss bank that suffered a rogue trading scandal last year, paid a $780 million fine to settle a U.S. tax investigation in 2009 and nearly collapsed in 2008 under the weight of huge subprime losses.
Sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters the fine will be $1 billion or more, which would be more than double the $450 million levied on British bank Barclays Plc in June for interest rate manipulation.
The penalty could be as high as $1.6 billion and UBS will admit 36 traders around the globe manipulated yen Libor between 2005 and 2010, Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger said, citing unnamed sources.
UBS declined to comment on the report or on the timing of a settlement. Reuters could not independently verify the $1.6 billion figure.
That sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. What’s a few billion in expenses for rigging the market for many years? This will only encourage the banks. I can only imagine the “regulators” figure if it’s more than a billion the sheeple will think it’s enough.
Full disclosure: I’m now short tar, feathers, torches and pitchforks.
Seems like the broke government is ‘taxing’ the banks to get some much-needed cash. A billion here and there adds up. I’m sure we will see a lot more of this in the future.