Watchdog tells HSBC it is not on the rate-fix suspect list

 
HSBC: while the bank has not yet announced which areas will be cut, it does seem to be making a concerted effort to streamline its operations
2 July 2012

HSBC, Britain’s biggest bank, today received a boost from the Financial Services Authority, which indicated that it is not looking at the firm in relation to Libor interest-rate fixing.

HSBC is thought to be the only major British bank that has won that endorsement from the FSA so far.

The FSA’s move comes after Chancellor George Osborne raised the prospect of British regulators hauling in HSBC when he named the bank as being “under investigation for market manipulation” last week. HSBC continues to co-operate with inquiries in several territories, thought to include the US and Europe, which operate their own versions of Libor, the London Interbank Offered Rate.

The British bank, along with other leading firms, sat on panels that helped to set Libor. Those close to HSBC say it is not under investigation in these countries but the annual report warns it is “not practicable” to predict the outcome.

HSBC has “been named in putative class-action lawsuits filed by private parties in the US with respect to the setting of US dollar Libor”.

HSBC declined to comment.

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