RBS, HSBC to be fined in interest rates rigging scandal

RBS HSBCIt is believed that the Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC are set to be fined for playing a role in rigging the benchmark interest rates in the Eurozone.

Regulators in the European Union are looking to set the blame on six global banking giants for playing a part in the scandal. The latest fines will be relating to the rigging of the Euribor rate, which is a benchmark used as the basis for pricing _250 trillion of financial contracts from mortgages to derivatives.

Euribor is an equivalent to the Libor, which is the London interbank offered rate that was also rigged by the financial institutions. A number of banks have already been fined in the Libor rigging scandal. Barclays was fined £290m in fines to UK and US regulators, while RBS was fined £390m. Dutch bank Rabobank paid a total of £655m for its part in the scandal.

Regulators in Brussels looking at Euribor are investigations allegations against RBS and HSBC as well as JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale, according to the people closer to the matter. Barclays, which alerted the European Commission about the rigging scandal, will not be fined.