UBS suspends traders amid Libor probe

Switzerland's largest bank UBS has suspended several traders in connection with an international inquiry into the suspected manipulation of interbank borrowing rates, a report said on Thursday. Yvan Ducrot, co-head of the bank's rates business, and Holger Seger, global head of short-term interest rates trading, are among a group of Zurich-based traders who have been suspended pending further inquiries, a source close to the case told the Financial Times newspaper. UBS declined to comment. Inquiry launched Swiss authorities announced at the beginning of February they had launched an inquiry into the possible manipulation of Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) and Tibor (Tokyo Interbank Offered Rate), which serve as benchmarks for the wider money markets. The Competition Commission said collusion between derivative traders at a number of financial institutions might have influenced the rates in their favour. About a dozen other banks are involved in the probe, among them UBS rival Credit Suisse plus Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase and Royal Bank of Scotland.