Two French bank managers were indicted today for participating in a scheme to transmit false and misleading information related to the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), a global benchmark interest rate to which trillions of dollars of financial transactions are tied.
Danielle Sindzingre, 54, and Muriel Bescond, 49, both of France, were charged in the Eastern District of New York with one count of conspiring to transmit false reports concerning market information that tends to affect a commodity and four counts of transmitting such false reports.
Sindzingre and Bescond were, respectively, the Global Head of Treasury and the Head Treasury Paris at French financial institution Société Générale, S.A.
According to the indictment, LIBOR was a benchmark interest rate that was calculated for various currencies and maturities. The U.S. Dollar LIBOR was constructed by compiling submissions from leading banks around the world (“contributor panel banks”), excluding the four highest and lowest submissions, and averaging the remainder to obtain each day’s LIBOR “fix.” Each contributor panel bank was required under the rules of the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) to submit the rate at which it believed it would be charged if it sought offers to borrow money from other banks in the London interbank market.
In February 2009, Société Générale joined the contributor panel for U.S. Dollar LIBOR.
As alleged in the indictment, between approximately May 2010 and approximately October 2011, Sindzingre and Bescond knowingly instructed their employer, Société Générale, to submit falsified USD LIBOR rates.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Rohde of the Eastern District of New York and Assistant Director in Charge Andrew Vale of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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