DUBAI: National Bank of Fujairah has been chosen to replace Barclays on the panel which sets the United Arab Emirates’ indicative interbank lending rates, banking sources said yesterday.
Barclays said in July it was withdrawing from the panel which determines the Emirates interbank offered rate (Eibor), weeks after it agreed to pay a $453m fine to US and British regulators over manipulation of the London interbank offered rate (Libor). There has been no suggestion that Barclays tried to manipulate Eibor, which is used to price financial instruments in the Gulf’s top financial centre.
NBF, the 11th-largest bank by market capitalisation in the UAE, beat out India’s Bank of Baroda for the spot on the 12-member panel in a vote of panel members, three banking sources said. The arrival of NBF is unlikely to influence Eibor levels significantly; daily quotes are calculated using an average of the submissions of all 12 panel members, minus the two highest and two lowest.
But the appointment shifts the balance of the panel further toward local banks. Before Barclays’ withdrawal, it consisted of eight local and four foreign institutions including Citigroup, HSBC and Standard Chartered.
Reuters
