RBS suspends rates trader boss amid Libor probe

Royal Bank of Scotland has suspended its head of rates trading for Europe and Asia Pacific amid a company probe into the Libor interest rate fixing scandal, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. British state-owned RBS would not confirm the report or that Jezri Mohideen had become its most senior employee to be put on leave as the bank investigates its alleged role in the Libor affair that has rocked rival bank Barclays. A spokeswoman told AFP: "Our investigations into submissions, communications and procedures relating to the setting of Libor and other interest rates are ongoing. RBS and its employees continue to cooperate fully with regulators." Citing people close to RBS, the FT said Mohideen was suspended last week. Four RBS traders were sacked at the end of 2011 for their alleged role in fixing inter-bank interest rates, sources close to the matter had told AFP in July. The Libor affair erupted in June when Barclays bank was fined £290 million ($470 million, 363 million euros) by British and US regulators for attempted manipulation of Libor and Euribor interbank rates between 2005 and 2009. The Barclays scandal led to the resignations of three leading Barclays executives -- chief executive Bob Diamond, chairman Marcus Agius and chief operating officer Jerry del Missier. Britain's financial watchdog last month vowed to overhaul the Libor system that has damaged the financial sector's reputation and threatened to imprison those who abused it. Barclays is the only bank to have been fined over Libor, but it is understood that at least 15 lenders globally are being investigated for potential rate manipulation. The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, is a flagship instrument used all over the world, affecting what banks, businesses and individuals pay to borrow money. Euribor is the eurozone equivalent.