The Financial Conduct Authority has issued a warning notice to an unnamed banker for colluding with a trader at another bank to manipulate London interbank offered rate benchmark submissions.
The warning notice, published today (27 February), does not name the individual or the bank.
The FCA believes that, over a period of two years, the individual was “knowingly concerned” in regulatory breaches by the bank for failings in relation to interest rate benchmark submissions.
The individual made requests to the bank’s interest rate benchmark submitters and “colluded with a trader at another bank, by making interest rate benchmark submissions which took into account requests made by him”.
This is the third warning notice the FCA has published since it has the power to, all of which have been issued to bankers.
In February, the regulatory published two warning notices against individual bankers connected to the manipulation of interest rate benchmarks. FTAdviser sister title the Financial Times later stated one of these warning notices could yield a penalty of £2.5m.
In October 2013, the regulator said it would publish certain warning notices without naming the firm involved where there is a public interest in highlighting the issue, but where ‘naming and shaming’ would be considered unfair.
