Overseas regulators alerted the HKMA about potential manipulation of the local interbank lending rates and other reference rates in the region, it said. The move signals that the world’s biggest banks - some of which have already been penalized in Japan - may now come under scrutiny in more Asian nations even as they seek to placate U.S. and U.K. authorities.
In the meantime, Reuters reports that unlike the outrage that hit Barclays after the British bank was fined for rigging a benchmark interest rate, reaction in Switzerland to UBS's penalty for the same offence has been muted.
There appears to be little appetite to attack UBS, whose reputation has already been tarnished by a series of damaging mistakes.
The contrasting fates of the two banks may suggest a 'wait and see' policy makes more sense, according to insiders at Deutsche Bank, which is facing months of investigation for its part in the global Libor scandal.
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