LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) - Britain's financial industrywatchdog plans to step up its scrutiny of whether banks havestrong enough controls on their traders behaviour and if lessonshave been learned from recent Libor rigging controversies.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the review of therisk that traders manipulate key benchmarks is a central part ofits 2014/15 business plan, published on Monday. The FCA said itsannual funding requirement will be 446.4 million pounds ($742.7million), up 3.3 percent from the previous year.
The watchdog will also look at whether investment banks arehandling potential conflicts of interest adequately and ensuringconfidential information received in one part of the business isnot abused by a different part of the business. ($1 = 0.6011 British Pounds) (Reporting by Steve Slater; Editing by Freya Berry)