US and UK enforcers are pushing to agree multinational settlements with at least one and possibly two more banks by the end of the year over allegations they tried to fix Libor and other interest rates, people familiar with the negotiations said.
The timetable is back on track after a deterioration in transatlantic co-operation over summer, the people said, with the bulk of the dozen or so banks under investigation in the scandal now expected to reach settlements over the next 12 months.
“We have an active, far-reaching investigation and our relationship with the FSA and SFO is excellent,” Lanny Breuer, the US assistant attorney-general in charge of criminal investigations, told the Financial Times. He refused to comment on the timing of any settlements.