* Rabobank, BayernLB become latest banks to quit Euribor * Austria's Raiffeisen says it is considering its future * Rabo says no plans to quit Libor By Thomas Escritt and Marc Jones AMSTERDAM/LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Rabobank became thehighest profile European bank to quit money market benchmarkEuribor on Friday, dealing the credibility of the lending rate afresh blow as its future remains uncertain. The Dutch cooperative, one of Europe's highest-rated banks,confirmed it had quit the more-than 40-strong Euribor panelafter data showed it did not submit a contribution on Friday. "The changed circumstances on the money market have stronglyaffected Rabobank's business," it said in a statement given toReuters. "As a result, Rabobank evaluated its contribution tothe Euribor panel from a business economics point of view." There was a second blow as German Landesbank BayernLB said it had also withdrawn from Euribor, effectivefrom the start of 2013, for "strategic reasons". Euribor and its larger counterpart Libor are Europe's keygauges of how much banks pay to borrow from their peers, andunderpin swathes of financial products. But their future is indoubt after it emerged last year that a number of banks hadmanipulated the benchmarks for their own advantage in the past. The Libor scandal toppled the leadership of Britain'sBarclays and cost UBS $1.5 billion in fineslast year. Other banks are also bracing for huge fines and thepossibility of criminal charges against bankers and executives. Rabobank's is the highest-profile European departure fromEuribor to date and comes after Citi, one of the world'sbiggest financial institutions, and Germany's Dekabank quit lastyear. NO LIBOR EXIT As banks look to protect their still-hurting reputations,the appeal of being involved in setting interbank rates is beingincreasingly questioned. If too many banks pull out, Euribor andLibor could unravel completely. A spokesman for Rabobank said it had no current plans towithdraw from Libor but Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International said it was considering its future in Euribor. "We areevaluating that", said a spokesman. Rabobank has already been touched by the rate-settingscandal. It fired a number of traders over manipulation claimsbetween 2008 and 2011, according to one Dutch newspaper. Some of its former employees were also suspended by Bank ofTokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ last year in connection with a probe by UKauthorities into the rigging of interbank lending rates. The European Commision is due to publish a review of Euriborin coming weeks as authorities in Europe demand greatertransparency in the setting of interbank lendingrates. Late last year the European Central Bank called Euribororganisers, Euribor-EBF, to improve the credibility of thebenchmark by calculating it from actual bank-to-bank tradesrather than banks' estimates of what they pay to borrow.
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