An international regulatory investigation into alleged manipulation of Libor rates, the benchmark price for interbank borrowing costs, has taken yet another turn.  Barclays Plc now appears to be the main focus of the probe being run by U.S. and U.K. regulators, the Financial Times reports. 

About $350 trillion worth of financial products globally reference Libor, and lower levels for the rate could have robbed lenders and investors of significant amounts of interest income.  Borrowers, on the other hand, would have benefited.

News of the investigation first broke earlier this month when UBS AG disclosed it had been subpoenaed.  Late last week, other names began to pop up.  Bank of America and Citigroup reportedly received subpoenas;  JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and Bank of America all reportedly were asked by U.S. regulators, including the SEC, to make employees available as witnesses in the probe. 

    Barclays' Treasury Unit Helps Set the Libor Rate.   U.S. and British regulators are investigating whether banks understated Libor to reduce borrowing costs and downplay investor panic during the financial crisis.  The regulators also are investigating whether Barclays' traders and its treasury operations improperly communicated, in violation of the firm's "Chinese Wall" rules.  Investigators also are looking into whether there was "any improper influence" on the information that Barclays submitted daily as part of a survey that is used to set the interbank borrowing rate, Financial Times reported. 

A Barclays spokesman declined to comment on the newspaper's report.  [Reuters, 3/24]