EU accuses Icap of collusion over Libor

Michael Spencer’s broking giant Icap has been accused of breaking European competition rules by colluding with banks to help to rig benchmark interest rates.

The company, founded by the former Conservative Party treasurer (pictured) in 1986, received the complaint from the European Commission as part of a wider investigation that has already resulted in six financial institutions being fined a total of €669m (£541m), including Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland.

The company said yesterday: “Icap does not believe it has breached any applicable EU competition law, and will defend itself against these allegations vigorously.”

Separately yesterday, Icap said it had halved the bonuses for top executives last year, partly to reflect the impact of a $87m settlement with US and UK regulators over Libor rate fixing.