UBS Near Settlement on Libor Scandal

A second major bank is near a settlement agreement with regulators related to charges of manipulating the Libor interest rate. Swiss banking giant UBS A.G. (NYSE: UBS) is expected to agree to pay at least $450 million for its manipulations, the amount that Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) agreed to pay earlier this year to settle manipulation charges.

UBS may end up paying more because Barclays had spent “tens of millions” on its own internal investigations according to source cited at The Wall Street Journal.

There are at least another dozen banks currently being investigated for trying to rig the benchmark Libor, which is used by mortgage lenders, student loan lenders, auto lenders, and credit card companies to compute the interest rates they charge customers. Royal Bank of Scotland Group (NYSE: RBS) is reportedly in advanced settlement talks with regulators. Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB) has set aside funds to pay for potential fines, and U.K. giant HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC) as well as U.S.-based banks Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) are among others also being scrutinized.

Paul Ausick