The Monetary Authority of Singapore, (MAS) a Singapore's central bank, accused 133 traders from 20 international banks of key borrowing rates manipulation, according to the regulator’s press release. About a hundred traders lost their jobs.
Traders from RBS, UBS, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Barclays, Citibank, JP Morgan, and other financial institutions are in the list. The MAS points out that traders engaged in the rate-setting process announced wrong information, thus, falsifying the data. The watchdog specified the facts of manipulating Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (SIBOR), Singapore Swap Offer Rate (SOR), and FX Benchmarks rate, which is used when forward contracts are concluded.
Sanctions were imposed against the banks. The wrongdoers were obligated to transfer from S$100 million to S$1.2 billion for a one-year period to the central bank's reserve. As the result, the banks will not be able to use the money for profits.
Mentioned earlier financial institutions have already been fined by the authorities in the UK and US. The regulators suspected the banks of rigging the rates even in 2008. Recently, investigations have been started in several countries.
In July 2012, Barclays was fined £290 million for interest rate manipulation. Later, RBS and UBS were also fined.
