Libor Fixing Scandal: Senior UK Banker Pleads Guilty Landmark Case

A senior financier at a major UK bank has become the first Briton in the country to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud in relation to the benchmark interbank lending rate Libor.

However, while reporting restrictions were lifted on 7 October to report the case, the press are not allowed to identify the individual or the bank.

Seven banks around the world have already settled with US and UK authorities over Libor rigging offences and a total of 17 men have been charged with fraud in relation to market manipulation.

Libor is a lending rate that is set by a panel of banks.

Libor valuations directly influence the value of trillions of dollars of financial deals between banks and other institutions.

The benchmark reference rates are used in euro, US dollar and British sterling over-the-counter (OTC) interest rate derivatives contracts and exchange traded interest rate contracts.