Because Banks Are The Good Guys A Few Of Them Agree To Pay $4,000,000,000.00 In Fines For Being Bad Guys And Cheating The World

UBS to pay $1.5 billion over rate-rigging scandal

Switzerland’s UBS AG agreed Wednesday to pay some $1.5 billion in fines to international regulators following a probe into the rigging of a key global interest rate.

In admitting to fraud, Switzerland’s largest bank became the second bank, after Britain’s Barclays PLC, to settle over the rate-rigging scandal. The fine, which will be paid to authorities in the U.S., Britain and Switzerland, also comes just over a week after HSBC PLC agreed to pay nearly $2 billion for alleged money laundering.

The settlement caps a tough year for UBS and the reputation of the global banking industry. As well as being ensnared in the industry-wide investigation into alleged manipulations of the benchmark LIBOR interest rate, short for London interbank offered rate, UBS has seen its reputation suffer in a London trial into a multibillion dollar trading scandal and ongoing tax evasion probes.

Gramm Retires as UBS Investment-Bank Officer

UBS AG UBS +0.30% said former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm has retired as vice chairman of the firm’s investment-bank division but will take on a role as a consultant for the bank.