More leading banks likely to be drawn into Libor inquiry

Regulators in the UK, US and Japan will widen their probe into Libor fixing in the banking sector to include more than 15 banks, according to insiders.

It follows allegations UBS manipulated the Libor interbank lending rate.

Industry insiders say detailed investigations are expected to begin into the ways leading financial institutions could have artificially fixed the leading benchmark for international borrowing, the Telegraph reports.

On Tuesday, UBS admitted it had "received subpoenas" from Wall Street regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the US Department of Justice in its annual report, published on Tuesday.

The allegations relate to Libor submissions made by UBS to the British Bankers' Association (BBA), which sets the rate.

The bank added it has also received an order to provide information to Japan's Financial Supervisory Agency "concerning similar matters".

Neither UBS nor the British Banking Association (BBA), which is responsible for setting the Libor rate, would comment any further on the story.