Two managers at French bank Societe Generale have been charged by US authorities with taking part in a scheme to manipulate the global US dollar Libor benchmark interest rate.
The bank’s former global head of treasury and its former head of treasury in Paris have been accused of submitting false information about the rates at which the bank was able to borrow money according to an indictment filed in a New York federal court.
The indictment outlines that the scheme aimed to shore up the bank’s reputation after outside analysts drew attention to the higher-than-average interest rates Societe Generale had been reporting.
Both defendants are still currently with the bank.
Banks have paid roughly US$9 billion to resolve Libor-rigging probes worldwide with several people convicted of criminal charges.