31.07.2012
By Simon Miller
Italian police have seized documents from the Milan offices of Barclays in relation to the possible manipulation of Euribor according to reports.
The raid last week was ordered by prosecutors in the southern city of Trani who have opened up a criminal investigation into the possible manipulation of Euribor following complaints filed by Italian consumer groups Adusbef and Federconsumatori.
The consumer groups said the documents, computer materials and emails seized were with the aim of "looking for evidence that Barclays also manipulated Euribor as it did with Libor with a negative impact on mortgage rates paid by Italians".
The news comes the day after the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said that existing legislation could be used to prosecute bankers guilty of manipulation of Libor.
In a statement the SFO said that its director David Green QC was satisfied that "existing criminal offences are capable of covering conduct in relation to the alleged manipulation of Libor and related interest rates".
It added that the investigation, announced on 6 July, involved a number of financial institutions.
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