Libor Scandal Catches Up with Deutsche Bank and HSBC

The investigation into the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) rate fixing that resulted in a record fine and major shake-up for Barclays last month is now focusing on traders at Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), HSBC, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole.

On July 3, Benzinga reported that Barclays' CEO Bob Diamond had followed Chairman Marcus Agius in resigning his position.

In his resignation statement, Diamond explained that his decision came as a result of "the external pressure [that] has reached a level that risks damaging the franchise – I cannot let that happen. [I am] deeply disappointed that the impression created by the events of last week about what Barclays and its people stand for could not be further from the truth.”

Barclays had been fined $453 million for rate fixing after emails were made public showing very clearly that Barclays staff knew that they were doing wrong. The bank was fined for manipulating the Libor between 2005 and 2009. According to the Bloomberg, with regulators investigating possible links between former Barclays trader Philippe Moryoussef and Michael Zrihen at Credit Agricole, Didier Sander at HSBC and Christian Bittar at Deutsche Bank.

Ben Bernanke made it clear Wednesday that regulators from the CFTC and the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission were still investigating the matter.

“There's any number of enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice, CFTC, SEC and foreign and state regulators, looking at this,” Bernanke told Congress. “I'm sure that they will apply the law appropriately.”

The investigation will likely continue for some time, but it is apparent that any bank that had ties to Barclays in recent years has reason to look over their shoulder.

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