Major banking groups declined to comment yesterday on a newswire report that European Union anti-trust regulators are set to slap heavy fines on them for alleged rigging of the EURIBOR market benchmark, a move that if confirmed will add to other rate-rigging scandals that have erupted around the world, including Asia.

HSBC declined to comment to this publication but pointed out it had made a brief reference to the EURIBOR issues in its recent results statement; Deutsche Bank declined to comment, as did RBS and JP Morgan. Societe Generale declined to comment; Credit Agricole had not responded at the time of going to press.

The Commission, the EU's antitrust authority, raided a number of global banks for suspected fixing of EURIBOR two years ago. This benchmark is used as the basis for pricing €250-trillion of financial contracts, the news service said.

The news wire report said some of the banks had agreed to settle with the Commission in exchange for a 10 per cent reduction in their fines. The announcement is expected to be made next month.

If there are fines imposed, it will represent yet another level of punishment on banks which, in several cases, have been hit with fines for various offences such as interbank rate manipulation.

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