By Ann Saphir
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 28 (Reuters) - A San Francisco Countysupervisor is calling for an investigation into possible lossesto the city and county linked to a widely used interest-ratebenchmark that regulators say was manipulated.
John Avalos is "looking to call a hearing to review thecity's finances and potential losses" from swaps based on theLondon interbank offered rate, Avalos aide Jeremy Pollock saidin an interview.
At issue are potential losses on swaps tied to Libor, awidely used benchmark little remarked outside financial circlesuntil last June when the UK and the United States fined Britishbank Barclays $450 million for fixing rates during thecredit crisis.
Swiss bank UBS has since reached a $1.5 billionsettlement for its role in the scandal, and Royal Bank ofScotland is braced for as much as $800 million in fines.
Several California cities, counties and a Bay Area publicutility earlier this month filed federal lawsuits seekingdamages for antitrust and other violations related to allegedLibor rate-rigging.
Other claims have come from local governments like the cityof Baltimore, large investors, home owners who say rate riggingmade their mortgages more expensive, and small U.S. banks.
A statement from community activists and a labor uniondistributed to the press suggested an investigation could leadto legal action, but Pollock said he was unsure if that would bethe case.
So far he has not identified any swap that appears to be"toxic," he said, and it is unclear how much San Francisco wasaffected.
Barclays (BARC)
