Lloyds bank sacks eight staff after rate-rigging probe

Lloyds Banking Group has sacked eight workers and withheld bonuses in disciplinary measures linked to the Libor interest rate-rigging scandal, the state-rescued lender said on Monday.
Earlier this year, Lloyds was fined £218 million ($353 million, 279 million euros) by British and US regulators regarding its submissions to the British Bankers' Association (BBA) London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) and Sterling Repo Rate.
"Lloyds Banking Group... has taken disciplinary action against certain individuals following the resolutions reached in July with UK and US federal authorities regarding attempts to manipulate certain submissions to the BBA LIBOR and Sterling Repo Rate between 2006 and 2009," it said in a statement on Monday.
"As a result -- and subject to the affected individuals’ right to appeal the decisions in accordance with the group’s disciplinary policies and procedures -- eight individuals have been dismissed."
Lloyds added that bonuses and long-term incentives totalling £3.0 million will also be forteited in accordance with its company policy.
The Libor scandal erupted two years ago when British bank Barclays was fined £290 million by British and US regulators for attempted manipulation of Libor and Euribor interbank rates between 2005 and 2009. Euribor is the eurozone equivalent of Libor.
The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, is a flagship instrument used all over the world, affecting what banks, businesses and individuals pay to borrow money.
Other banks have meanwhile faced far bigger fines than Barclays over Libor, notably Swiss lender UBS which was ordered to pay a penalty of $1.5 billion.
Part of the fines also related to attempts by the bank, which is 25-percent owned by the British taxpayer, to manipulate fees for participation in a government-backed scheme to support lenders during the global financial crisis.