Barclays chairman quits as scandal over interests rates claims first scalp

The chairman of a leading British bank is set to quite today as an interest-rate rigging scandal takes its first major scalp and threatens to widen to other banks, raising questions about the involvement of the Bank of England.

The resignation of Barclays PLC chairman Marcus Agius, is expected today, a person familiar with the matter said. Pressure has built on him and CEO Bob Diamond to quit following a £290m (€360m) fine for Barclays by British and US regulators last week for submitting inaccurate submissions on the Libor interest rate.

Meanwhile, British taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland has sacked 10 of its traders over their alleged role in the Libor-fixing scandal.