UBS corrupt payments exposed as bank pays £940m to settle Libor claims

[alp227]

Source: the guardian

The Swiss bank UBS has been fined £940m (1.4bn Swiss francs, US$1.53bn) by global regulators for "extensive and widespread" attempts to manipulate key benchmark interest rates known as Libor for five years.

This is the latest and most serious escalation of the rate rigging scandal and exposes corrupt payments for the first time.

The £160m portion of the fine levied by the Financial Services Authority is the largest ever imposed by the City regulator and surpasses the previous record: £59.5m imposed on Barclays in June for attempted manipulation of the Libor and Euribor rates. The total Barclays fine was £290m and led to the resignation of chief executive Bob Diamond days later.

At UBS at least 2,000 requests for "inappropriate submissions" to the key rates were documented and at least 45 individuals "including traders, managers and senior managers were involved in, or aware of, the practice of attempting to influence submissions", the FSA said. The FSA said every one of those submissions was potentially suspicious.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/dec/19/ubs-pays-libor-fixing-claims

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. That includes $1.2 bn to US regulators

UBS said it had agreed to pay fines to regulators in three different countries:

$1.2bn (£740m) in combined fines to the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission
£160m to the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA)
59m Swiss francs (£40m) to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority
...
The bank has also agreed to admit to committing wire fraud through its Tokyo office in the case of manipulating Libor rates for loans denominated in Japanese yen, among others.

It said it would seek a non-prosecution agreement with the DoJ covering the rest of the bank's misbehaviour.
...
The bank still faces lawsuits in the US for mis-selling mortgage debt to other investors, including a $6.4bn claim by the US government-sponsored mortgage finance agencies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20767984

[Octafish]

2. Slap on the wrist.

How will UBS ever manage to stay alive in squeaky clean Switzerland, apart from the US taxpayer?

[Orrex]

3. I hope that no executives have to face jail time over this!

But thank god that the kid nabbed for his 3rd drug possession will serve a few decades for what is obviously a more serious and far-reaching crime.

[OnyxCollie]

4. K&R. nt

[hughee99]

6. One quick question here...

UBS rigs the LIBOR rate and consumers get screwed, right? Then they pay a fine, NOT to settle with those they screwed, but to the government. The company got a slap on the wrist, the governments got a nice little bit of change, and those that got screwed can take solace in knowing that the people who screwed them may not be getting their full bonus this year.

[closeupready]

7. Yes, essentially. Any other questions?

It's filthy, and it needs to stop.

[hughee99]

8. Do you know if there's a separate civil suit in the works

or would settling the fine give UBS immunity from civil suits? Just curious on this. It bugs the hell out of me when private business pays a fine to government (one that might be subsidizing them anyway) instead of the people it screwed in the first place.

[closeupready]

9. I'm not a lawyer, but I think settlements like this

only immunize against criminal prosecutions, not civil suits.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. They have lawsuits against them for misselling debt

The bank still faces lawsuits in the US for mis-selling mortgage debt to other investors, including a $6.4bn claim by the US government-sponsored mortgage finance agencies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20767984

And they may face suits for the LIBOR fixing too (along with other banks):

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may have lost more than $3 billion as a result of banks' alleged rigging of a key global benchmark interest rate known as Libor, according to an internal report reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. According to the Journal, the unpublished report urges Fannie and Freddie to consider filing a lawsuit against the banks that set Libor, or the London interbank offered rate. The report comes after UBS settled with authorities for $1.5 billion over accusations that it tried to manipulate Libor.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fannie-freddie-may-have-lost-3-bln-in-libor-2012-12-19?link=MW_home_latest_news

Besides UBS and Barclays, about a dozen other major banks are involved in setting Libor rates each day across a range of currencies, and most of them are understood to be still under investigation.

Philip Augar, former group managing director at Schroders told BBC News that apart from significant fines, customers could take action against their banks if they have been disadvantaged by the Libor rigging.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20781266

More bankers likely will be charged; British fraud authorities last week arrested three individuals, including Mr. Hayes, and are readying charges for next year, according to people familiar with the case.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324407504578188342618724274.html