More banks set to be dragged into EU’s rate rigging scandal
THE European Union is expected soon to accuse several banks of attempted collusion in the setting of lending rate benchmark Euribor, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people briefed on the probe.
Barclays has already acknowledged trying to rig the Euribor rate, and other banks are likely to be pressed by regulators in the United States, Britain and elsewhere into similar admissions, the Journal said.
At least a dozen banks are under investigation, at least four of them for allegedly working with Barclays, the newspaper said, citing disclosures by banks and regulators.
Nobody from the office of Joaquin Almunia, the European Commissioner with responsibility for competition and who has been investigating Euribor, was available to comment, and spokespeople from the banks allegedly involved declined to comment.