UBS agreed to pay a record SFr1.4 billion (€1.15 billion) to US, UK and Swiss regulators to settle allegations of “pervasive” and “epic” efforts to manipulate interbank lending rates as two of its former traders faced the first criminal charges in the worldwide Libor scandal.

The Swiss bank’s Japanese arm pleaded guilty to criminal wire fraud as the group acknowledged that dozens of employees had tried to manipulate the London Interbank Offered Rate and similar rates between 2005 and 2010.

The imposition of one of the largest penalties ever faced by a bank is a new peak in the sprawling four-year investigation that has drawn in close to 20 banks and interdealer brokers. Both US and UK regulators said that the scale of wrongdoing at UBS far exceeded that at Barclays, which settled with authorities in June. Despite receiving credit for co-operation, UBS paid three times as much as Barclays.

The US Department of Justice charged Tom Hayes and Roger Darin with conspiring to manipulate yen Libor rates to benefit their trading positions. Mr Hayes was also charged with wire fraud and antitrust violations for allegedly colluding with individuals at other banks.

In March 2011, UBS became the first bank to disclose it was under investigation for attempted manipulation of Libor. – (c) 2012 The Financial Times Limited