Rabobank will not be prosecuted for libor fraud

RabobankThe Rabobank will not be prosecuted for the Libor interest rate manipulation scandal, a court in The Hague ruled on Tuesday.

The prosecution was demanded by a group of Rabobank customers who wanted the public prosecutor to bring a case against the bank. However, the court ruled that the €774m in out of court settlements made by the bank in 2013 was sufficient punishment.

The court said pursuing the case further had no ‘added value’. Although the bank’s management was ‘insufficiently alert’, it could not be shown they had acted ‘intentionally to their own benefit or had been seriously negligent’.

Former staff members directly responsible for the Libor fraud are being prosecuted abroad, making prosecution in the Netherlands impossible, the court said.

Six former Rabobank staff members have been prosecuted in America, and the bank’s chief executive Piet Moorland and department head Sipko Schat lost their jobs.

Fourteen bank workers have faced disciplinary measures such as the loss of bonuses, and five were sacked for their role in the scandal.

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