Icap suspends employee in Libor probe

Icap has suspended one employee and placed two others on administrative leave in the past six weeks as part of a global probe into the interdealing broker market.

According to the Financial Times, more than a dozen traders and brokers based in London and Asia have been fired, suspended, or put on leave in the probe, which is investigating the alleged manipulation of global lending rates. Other firms linked to the probe include JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Scotland and Citigroup.

Regulators are trying to determine whether US and European banks that help set interbank lending rates in London and Tokyo since late 2010 had manipulated their powers.

According to the FT, in the past few months officials have widened the probe to encompass hedge funds which placed big bets on the movement in those rates.

Icap did not shed much light on its involvement in the case, telling the paper it was 'co-operating fully' with authorities and had disclosed the official requests for information late last year.