RBS faces £500m fine

Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to face criminal charges and a £500 million fine for its role in the Libor rate-rigging scandal this week.

The taxpayer-backed lender is likely to announce the settlement with the Financial Services Authority and American regulators on Wednesday, with the head of the group’s investment bank, John Hourican, also expected to confirm his departure.

RBS – which is 81 per cent state owned – is thought to be under pressure from the Government to pay the fine with cash from its bonus pot to ensure taxpayers do not suffer, but the report suggests traders are still set to receive bonuses worth hundreds of millions of pounds for 2012.

The lender is one of about 20 banks which are being investigated over involvement in manipulating the rate, which governs the price of more than 500 trillion US dollars-worth of loans and transactions. RBS declined to comment