LONDON, Dec 19: Regulators slapped $1.5 billion in fines on Swiss banking giant UBS on Wednesday, the second-largest amount ever, for rigging the key global Libor interest rate in a deepening scandal threatening more than a dozen other banks.

The investigations by Swiss, British and the US regulators revealed evidence of massive misconduct in the setting of the Libor rate, a global benchmark affecting products from student loans to mortgages.

The bank said the settlement, equivalent to 1.2bn euros, would likely push it into a net loss of between 2.0 and 2.5bn Swiss francs in the fourth quarter.—AFP