LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Britain's leading prosecutor, theSerious Fraud Office (SFO), has asked its government paymastersfor an extra 26.5 million pounds ($42.4 million) to help fundcomplex investigations, such as alleged financial benchmarkmanipulation and corruption cases.
The agency, which nine months ago sought another 19 millionpounds to bolster investigations such as the Libor (Londoninterbank offered rate) benchmark fixing probe and an inquiryinto Barclays' fundraising from Qatar, had beenexpected to seek extra funding this financial year too.
The SFO can request so-called "blockbuster funding" to beefup a meagre annual budget of 35.2 million pounds -- far belowthe budget of some regional police forces -- if the costs ofextra lawyers and investigators for specific cases exceed apercentage of its budget.
"Parliamentary approval for additional resources of 26.5million pounds will be sought in a supplementary estimate forthe Serious Fraud Office," said Solicitor General RobertBuckland, a government lawyer, in a written ministerialstatement published on Thursday.
(1 US dollar = 0.6246 British pound) (Reporting by Kirstin Ridley; Editing by Mark Potter)