RBS hit with fresh fines over currency rate rigging scandal

The Swiss watchdog said it had found that the banks had been operating four separate cartels as it hit the two British lenders with combined fines of £37 million.

The penalty is the latest cost to hit Edinburgh-based RBS as it continues to be buffeted by the fallout of pass misconduct while attempting to stabilise in order for the UK taxpayer to return its 78 per cent stake in the bailed-out lender to private ownership.

RBS was told to pay out a total of 17.1 million Swiss Francs (£13.5m) for its role in influencing interest rates as it was found by the Swiss Competition Commission (Comco) to have participated in cartels in the trading of interest rate derivatives.

The bank was fined £9.7m for its role in the Libor scandal and £3.1m after being found, along with Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan, to have been involved in bilateral infringements of competition law in the yen interest rates derivatives sector.

These infringements, ruled to have taken place between 2007 and 2010, resulted in Comco handing out fines totalling £11.35m among the banks, while HSBC, Lloyds and City of London brokers Icap, Tullett Prebon and RP Martin all remain under investigation by Comco.

Barclays was fined £23.5m for colluding to influence interest rate derivatives by manipulating Euribor, used for euro loans between banks.

The British lender was found to have participated in cartel behaviour over 32 months, while RBS was fined for eight months of participation.

RBS was granted immunity in a separate probe into collusion with JP Morgan to influence the Swiss franc version of the Libor interest rate, after it told regulators of the activity.

An RBS spokesperson said: “We are pleased to have settled this legacy issue. The culture at RBS has changed dramatically in recent years. We are determined to put these issues behind us and build a bank that is fully focussed on the best interests of its customers.”

Comco fined JP Morgan £27m after concluding that the two banks had operated a “bilateral cartel” between March 2008 and July 2009, with the aim of influencing the benchmark rate.

“The cartel aimed at distorting the normal course of pricing components for interest rate derivatives in euro,” said Comco.

“Traders of different banks occasionally discussed their bank’s submissions for the calculation of the Euribor as well as their trading and pricing strategies.”

The probe also saw France’s Société Générale fined £2.6m, while proceedings remain open against JP Morgan, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Rabobank.