[ by Howard Haykin ]

It probably won't come as a great surprise that more Libor fines are expected by mid-year, according to a source familiar with the U.S. and U.K. investigations.  Among the firms expecting fines are ICAP and Citigroup.   Other prominent banks under investigation include JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank. 

The pace of the investigations are progressing and most of the rulings will be completed during the first have of the year.  So far, regulators have sanctioned 3 banks - Barclays, UBS, and Barclays.

A separate source close to the investigation said JPMorgan Chase and Germany's Deutsche Bank are in focus alongside ICAP and Citigroup after UK and U.S. regulators fined Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland on Wednesday.

U.S. and UK regulators have fined three banks to date - RBS, Britain's Barclays and Switzerland's UBS - a total of $2.6 billion for allowing traders to game Libor interbank rates in a global scam.

The regulators' timetable is an indication the probe is gathering pace, as investigators piece together evidence to ascertain which traders at which banks and brokerages attempted to manipulate Libor, the London interbank offered rate.

E-mail Evidence.   Reams of emails and computer message exchanges released by regulators allege traders colluded for years with peers at other banks and brokers to rig Japanese, Swiss and U.S.-denominated Libor, a benchmark used to price some $500 trillion worth of contracts from derivatives to credit cards.

"Deutsche, Citi and JPM are the banks named in regulatory circles as those candidates near the next settlements," said the second source.  The three banks declined to comment.

For further details, go to:  [Reuters, 2/7/13].