UBS Traders Tried to Manipulate HK Libor

Traders at Swiss bank UBS made around 100 attempts to rig a key lending rate called Hibor, the region’s financial regulator has said.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) found internal chat messages which contained “change requests” between 2006 and 2009.

The requests were made “with a view to rigging the Hibor fixing” HKMA said.

But the regulator said it found no evidence of collusion with other banks in the region to rig the rate.

Hibor stands for Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate and is the rate at which banks lend to each other.

The regulator found “material weaknesses” in UBS’s internal controls and governance in managing the Hibor submission process and “in other areas”, it said in a statement.

HKMA said that it was “unacceptable” that UBS had failed to report the misconduct to authorities.

In a statement UBS said: “We are pleased that the investigation of the HKMA returned the same results as our own internal investigation – no collusion among banks and no noticeable impact on the fixing of Hibor from any conduct occurring during the period in question.

“We have not been part of the HIibor fixing panel since 2010 and have taken appropriate steps to incorporate the HKMA’s suggested improvements into our operations.”

However, the regulator said it was still considering whether further sanctions would be required.

via BBC

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.