Jan 29 (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland Group isclose to a 500 million pounds ($785.32 million) settlement withU.S. and British authorities over claims that some of itsemployees submitted false Libor rates, the Wall Street Journalreported, citing people briefed on the negotiations.
The settlement would involve the British bank pleadingguilty to criminal charges in addition to paying a penalty.However, RBS executives are resisting any guilty plea, theJournal said.
The deal is expected to close within the next two weeks, theJournal reported.
Royal Bank of Scotland would be the third bank afterBarclays Plc and UBS AG to settle allegationsover submitting false Libor rates.
Britain's Barclays was fined $453 million in June formanipulating Libor benchmark interest rates, while UBS paidabout $1.5 billion in December.
"Discussions with various authorities in relation to Liborsetting are ongoing. We continue to cooperate fully with theirinvestigations," RBS spokesman Michael Strachan told theJournal.
RBS, which is majority owned by the British government,could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outsideof regular UK business hours.