BTMU yanks third London worker amid Libor probe

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. said its banking unit has suspended a London-based employee, the third worker in a month, as U.K. authorities investigate suspected manipulation of benchmark interest rates.

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. worker has been asked to stand by at home, Hironori Imafuku, a Tokyo-based spokesman for Mitsubishi UFJ, said without naming the employee or giving further details.

The lender's decision comes after the bank on July 10 said it suspended two traders in London in relation to the local regulator's interbank lending rate probe. Barclays PLC in June was fined 290 million ($454 million) for Libor rigging, prompting authorities in Europe, Asia and the U.S. to broaden inquiries into manipulation of benchmark gauges for borrowing.