Deutsche Bank is bracing itself against a massive fine in excess of $1.5bn (£1bn) for its part in rigging the Libor rate.
If this proves to be the amount agreed, it will be a record fine and more than the $1.5bn UBS had to pay to the UK, US and Swiss authorities for the same illegal chicanery.
At the same time, one of the Bank’s British subsidiaries has been told to plead guilty to fraud in the UK as part of the deal.
The fine is being decided by the Financial Conduct Authority in London and the US regulators as well as Deutsche Bank. The decision is likely to be announced this month.
Deutsche Bank will become one of the last to pay a fine for rigging the Libor rate.
The scandal surfaced three years ago when Barclays told the regulator of the scheme and its role in it. It was fined nearly £300 million in 2012, the first bank to pay.
Since then, billions have been paid to US, UK, Dutch, Swiss and EU regulators by banks in the UK, US, and Europe.
Bank traders had been colluding for years to manipulate the Libor rate, a benchmark which sets interest rates for billions in financial products.
Comments
As a point of interest, what happens to these millions extracted in fines? And would the FCA have succeeded without cooperation from the US? I have the impression that US regulators are tougher and more effective than the old Fundamentally Supine Authority, as FCA used to be known.