Libor Fixing Scandal: Lloyds among 7 Banks Subpoenaed by Florida State

The regulatory clampdown on manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) has intensified, after the Florida State regulator issued subpoenas to Bank of America, Societe Generale, Credit Suisse Group, Credit Agricole, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Rabobank and Lloyds Banking Group.

Florida attorney general Pam Bondi's office claimed it was "actively reviewing the Libor matter" and had subpoenaed a total of 14 banks.

In response to the Florida subpoena, a spokesperson at Lloyds said: "The group is assisting various regulators in their ongoing investigations into the setting of Libor. Until these investigations are completed, it would be inappropriate for us to comment any further."

Both Societe Generale and Credit Agricole declined to comment. Bank of America, Credit Suisse and RBC have yet to respond to calls from IBTimes UK.

Meanwhile, an anonymous source told Reuters that JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank and Barclays have been added to the list of banks subpoenaed by New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman and Connecticut attorney general George Jepsen.

The New York-Connecticut investigation has now issued subpoenas to seven banks - Deutsche Bank, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, RBS, HSBC, UBS and Citigroup.

Barclays and beyond

Barclays was the first bank to settle with the US Department of Justice, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) for a record £290m ($450m) for manipulating Libor between 2005 and 2009 by reporting false submissions.

Despite the record fine, the bank is still under investigation across different jurisdictions as well as by additional US regulators.

HSBC has revealed that it is under investigation by at least six jurisdictions for potential manipulation of other interest rate markets. CEO Stuart Gulliver admits Europe's biggest bank has "lost its way" and warned that legal penalties could be significantly higher than the $700m it has earmarked to settle rate-rigging and money-laundering charges.

Regulators from Tokyo to Toronto have revealed that they are investigating a significant number of banks that help set the benchmark interbank rates, which means there could be up to 43 banks under investigation in Europe alone.

Individuals under investigation

Over the last few weeks, a number of traders at different banks have either left or been suspended because of the Libor investigation.

This month, UBS confirmed that its head of swap trading, Jay Merchant, has left the bank. However a spokesperson refused to reveal whether Merchant, who previously worked for Barclays's New York office between 2006 and 2009, left as a result of the Libor investigation.

Merchant was the latest in a long line of named and unnamed individuals who are departing or being suspended from their posts at various banks.

Earlier in August, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ suspended a third London-based banker, while Nomura revealed that Philippe Moryoussef left his derivatives trading post in Singapore - both allegedly in connection to rate manipulation and the time they spent at their previous employer Barclays.

While many reports declined to name individuals and banks, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole have suspended or fired traders.