By David Cutler
Dec 19 (Reuters) - Swiss bank UBS was fined $1.5 billion to
settle charges of rigging the Libor benchmark rate, the second
biggest fine ever on a global bank and the second big fine over
Libor manipulation.
Britain's Barclays was fined $450 million in June for
rigging the rate.
Three of the largest four fines ever handed out to banks
have been in the last two weeks, showing that authorities are
penalizing firms more heavily.
HSBC last week agreed to pay a record $1.92 billion after
being accused by U.S. prosecutors of failing to enforce rules
designed to prevent money laundering.
The following lists fines imposed on leading banks.
| YEAR | BANK | FINE (in millions) | REASON | REGULATOR |
| 2012 | HSBC | 1,920 | Money laundering lapses | DOJ |
| 2012 | UBS | 1,500 | Libor manipulation | DOJ |
| 2009 | UBS | 780 | Aiding tax fraud | DOJ |
| 2012 | StanChart | 667 | Anti sanctions | OFAC/DOJ/MORE |
| 2012 | ING | 619 | Anti sanctions | OFAC |
| 2010 | Goldman | 550 | Misleading investors | FSA/SEC |
| 2009 | C.Suisse | 536 | Anti sanctions | OFAC |
| 2010 | ABN Amro | 500 | Anti sanctions | OFAC |
| 2012 | Barclays | 451 | Libor manipulation | DOJ/CFTC/FSA |
| 2009 | Lloyds | 350 | Anti sanctions | OFAC/DOJ |
| 2010 | Barclays | 298 | Anti sanctions | DOJ/OFAC |
| 2012 | JP Morgan | 297 | RMBS offering | SEC |
| 2011 | Citi | 285 | Misleading CDO investors | SEC |
| 2011 | JP Morgan | 228 | Muni bond rigging | SEC |
| 2011 | UBS | 160 | Muni bond rigging | SEC |
| 2011 | JP Morgan | 154 | Misleading investors | SEC |
| 2010 | BofA | 150 | Disclosing Merrill bonuses | SEC |
| 2011 | Wachovia | 148 | Muni bond rigging | SEC |
| 2010 | BofA | 137 | Muni bond rigging | SEC |
| 2003 | JP Morgan | 135 | Enron | SEC |
| 2012 | Mizuho | 128 | Misleading CDO investors | SEC |
GUIDE TO BANKING SCANDALS:
Libor - The suspected rigging of the London interbank
offered rate (Libor), an interest rate used in contracts worth
trillions of dollars globally.
Anti sanctions - Illegally hiding transactions with Iran and
other countries, violating U.S. sanctions.
Muni-bond-rigging - Conspiring to deceive U.S. cities and
towns by operating a scheme to rig bids to invest municipal bond
proceeds.
CDO - Collateralized debt obligation tied to the U.S.
housing market
RMBS offering - Misleading investors in the sale of risky
mortgage bonds or residential mortgage-backed securities.
Enron - JP Morgan was fined for its role in the defunct
Enron Corp's manipulation of its financial statements.
Merrill - Bank of America was fined for failing to disclose
properly employee bonuses and financial losses at Merrill Lynch
before shareholders approved the companies' merger in 2008.
NOTES: DOJ - U.S. Department of Justice
OFAC - U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control
FSA - UK Financial Services Authority
SEC - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
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