New York Stock Exchange operator NYSE Euronext is to take over running the Libor benchmark interest rates that have been at the center of a global rigging scandal.
An important cog in the world financial system, the rates are a benchmark for some $550 trillion in contracts from complex derivatives to credit card bills, but Libor's credibility was shaken by revelations that bank traders manipulated them.
NYSE Euronext will take over running Libor from the British Bankers' Association (BBA) trade body, which has run them since the 1980s, the independent British committee set up to choose the new operator for Libor said on Tuesday.
Libor, the London interbank offered rate, will continue to be regulated by Britain's financial regulator, according to the Hogg Tendering Advisory Committee.
The appointment "is an important step in enhancing the integrity of Libor" said Martin Wheatley, chief executive of Britain's Financial Conduct Authority, which has regulated Libor since April.
British and U.S. regulators have fined three banks a total of $2.6 billion and two men have been charged for manipulating Libor and similar benchmark rates. More banks and individuals remain under investigation.
Thomson Reuters, which has calculated Libor on behalf of the BBA since 2005, had also expressed an interest in a role in running Libor.
