Credit Agricole : not accused of rate manipulation

French bank Credit Agricole said on Thursday that it has "not been accused of any wrongdoing" in the Libor manipulation scandal that has cost the jobs of top executives at Barclays Bank. The statement was issued in response to a Financial Times report that regulators were investigating Credit Agricole, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale for involvement in manipulating an interest rate that plays a key role in global markets. Citing sources close to the probes, the FT said regulators were examining evidence of links between traders at all four banks and former Barclays trader Philippe Moryoussef. In a short statement, Credit Agricole said that it had "responded to requests for information from various authorities as it always does." The bank stressed that it was not a Libor panel bank between 2005 and 2009, when the FT said the manipulation is thought to have taken place, and only became a contributor in November 2010. US futures regulator the Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently accused an an unnamed trader of having "orchestrated an effort to align trading strategies among traders at multiple banks". The FT reported this trader was former euroswaps trader Moryoussef. Barclays was fined £290 million ($452 million, 360 million euros) after it acknowledged attempting to manipulate the Libor and Euribor rates between 2005 and 2009. Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) is a flagship London instrument used as an interest benchmark throughout the world, while Euribor is the eurozone equivalent. The rates play a key role in global markets, affecting what banks, businesses and individuals pay to borrow money.