UBS faces $1 bln day of reckoning over interest rate rigging
UBS AG is expected to be hit with a $1 billion-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, w ould be the latest blow for the Swiss bank that suffered a rogue trading scandal last year, paid a $780 million fine to settle a US 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.
"It's a little bit astonishing from a shareholder perspective that the fine could be double the amount of Barclays," said Peter Stenz, portfolio manager at investment and pensions manager Swisscanto and a holder of UBS shares.
"The good thing is that it is ended then …. The bad thing is the amount, which raises the question of how important UBS was in this story," Stenz said.
While Barclays' settlement touched
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