Barclays office raided as Libor investigation spreads to Italy
ITALIAN prosecutors yesterday raided a Barclays office in Milan as part of a probe into possible Euribor manipulation – the euro equivalent of Libor.
Police seized documents, computer material and emails, acting on a court order granted in the southern city of Trani.
The probe follows an extensive investigation into the key interbank rates by UK regulators including the Financial Services Authority, which saw the bank fined £290m for entering falsely low and high lending rates to the group compiling Libor.
The raid came after consumer groups Adusbef and Federconsumatori complained that customers may have been negatively affected by Euribor manipulation as it would change their mortgage interest rates.
However, the bank has not been put under formal investigation by the Italian authorities.
Barclays declined to comment on the details surrounding the raid.