U.K’s Osborne Said to Want RBS Libor Fine Paid From Bonus Pool

Chancellor George Osborne wants Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Britain’s biggest publicly owned lender, to pay any fines for Libor manipulation from its bonus pool, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

Osborne wants the fines paid either from this year’s bonus pool or through clawing back bonuses from previous years, said the person, who asked not be identified as the chancellor has not publicly commented on the matter. Osborne has made it clear any fine should be paid for by the bankers, not taxpayers, the person said.

An RBS spokesman didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment. The BBC and Sky News reported the news earlier today.

The bank may pay 500 million pounds ($785 million) to 600 million pounds to U.S. and U.K. authorities to settle the Libor claims, the Financial Times reported today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Adveith Nair in London at anair29@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Douglas Lytle at dlytle@bloomberg.net

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Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The London interbank offered rate is the basis for more than $300 trillion of securities. The banks that set the rate stand accused of rigging it for years to boost profits. Five years after alarm bells first sounded, regulators are handing out fines and criminal sanctions to those responsible for rate manipulation. This story is featured in the March issue of Bloomberg Markets Magazine. Bloomberg Television's Mark Barton reports. (Source: Bloomberg)