EU fines five banks and a broker HK$18b for fixing Libor, other rates

European Union antitrust regulators fined six financial institutions including Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and Citigroup a record total of €1.71 billion (HK$18 billion) yesterday for rigging financial benchmarks.

They include the London interbank offered rate (Libor), the Tokyo interbank offered rate and the euro area equivalents such as Euribor.

The combined penalty is the biggest yet to be handed down to banks for rigging the benchmarks used to determine the cost of lending, one of the most brazen violations of conduct since the global financial crisis. It is also the highest antitrust penalty ever imposed by the European Commission's competition watchdog.

The other institutions penalised were banks Societe Generale and JPMorgan and brokerage RP Martin.

Deutsche Bank received the biggest fine of €725.36 million.

The commission said it would continue to investigate Credit Agricole, HSBC, JPMorgan and the brokerage ICAP for possible similar offences.