AMSTERDAM: Rabobank has become the highest profile European bank to quit money market benchmark Euribor, dealing the credibility of the lending rate a fresh blow as its future remains uncertain.
The Dutch cooperative bank, which is owned by a group of regional mutuals, confirmed it had quit the Euribor panel on Thursday in a statement given to Reuters on Friday.
"The changed circumstances on the money market have strongly affected Rabobank's business," said spokesman Hendrik Jan Eijpe. "As a result, Rabobank evaluated its contribution to the Euribor panel from a business economics point of view."
German landesbank BayernLB also said on Friday it had withdrawn from the more-than 40-strong Euribor panel, effective from the start of 2013, citing "strategic reasons".
Data showed neither bank had submitted Euribor estimates on Friday.
Euribor and its larger counterpart Libor are Europe's key gauges of how much banks pay to borrow from peers, and underpin swathes of financial products from Spanish mortgages to derivatives contracts in London.
Their future is in doubt, however, with official investigations underway after it emerged a number of banks had manipulated the benchmarks in the past.
The scandal toppled the leadership of Britain's Barclays and has left others bracing for huge fines and the possibility of criminal charges against bankers and executives.
Rabobank's departure comes after that of Citi last year. The European Commision is due to publish a review of Euribor in coming weeks as authorities in Europe demand greater transparency in the setting of inter-bank lending rates.
Center>Copyright Reuters, 2013
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