Deutsche Bank Probed in LIBOR Rigging -- Reuters

Manipulation in setting the London Inter Bank Offered Rate (Libor) has already cost the CEO of Barclays plc (NYSE: BCS) his job and cost the bank about $450 million in fines. Now the German market regulator BaFin is investigating possible participation in a similar rigging deal by Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB).

BaFin did not specifically affirm an investigation of DB, saying only that the agency is doing what it can. Reuters said that US and British regulators are “looking at more than a dozen other banks” in connection with the manipulation of Libor rates. The inquiries cover a period beginning in 2005 and extending into 2011.

Barclays was fined for “low-balling” the borrowing rate it submitted to the Libor panel in an effort to avoid giving the impression that the bank was having difficulty funding itself. Presumably BaFin is looking for evidence that DB was doing the same thing, although neither BaFin nor the bank has commented on the nature of the investigation except in the most general terms.

Shares of DB are down about -5.3% at $33.56 in a 52-week range of $28.57-$57.66.