Rabobank Groep NV Suspends Currencies Traders, British Banker Pleads Guilty in Libor Probe

In London, Rabobank Groep NV (RABN.UL) has suspended two senior currencies traders in the wake of an internal probe into the bank’s forex business. Chris Twort and Gary Andrews were placed on leave of absence after their names were discovered in chat rooms along with a currencies trader from another bank who was also suspended.

Last year, the Dutch bank paid $979.5 million to resolve investigations related to attempts to manipulate the London interbank offered rate. Other banks that have paid to settle Libor rigging charges include ICAP (IAP), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), UBS (UBS), and JPMorgan (JPM).

Meantime, according to the Serious Fraud Office in London, a banker who works for a top British bank agreed to plea guilty to the criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud related to the agency’s probe into Libor manipulation. This individual is the first to plead guilty to manipulation charges of the rate in the United Kingdom. SFO has charged 12 men with the manipulation of Libor.

Eleven people have been charged in the United States. Several of them have pleading not guilty. Two ex- Rabobank Groep NV traders, Takayuki Yagami and Paul Robson entered guilty pleas to conspiracy-related charges in 2013.

It was in 2012 that the SFO and the Financial Services Authority found that traders at numerous banks had intentionally rigged the Libor rate to make the institution’s credit quality look better. This allowed the bank to keep their profits artificially inflated.

Britain secures first guilty plea in rate rigging probe, Reuters, October 7, 2014

Banker Pleads Guilty in U.K. Libor Case, The Wall Street Journal, October 7, 2014

More Blog Posts:
Lloyds Banking Group to Pay $370M Fine Over Libor Manipulation, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, July 29, 2014

Detroit Becomes Largest US City to File Bankruptcy Protection, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, July 18, 2013

New Hampshire Investment Adviser Focus Capital Wealth Management Accused of Elder Financial Fraud to Pay Exchange Traded Fund Victims $2.4M, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, March 14, 2013