UBS traders offered deal by US in interest rate probe: WSJ

US prosecutors have offered several former junior UBS AG employees protection from criminal charges in exchange for their cooperation with their expanding probe into alleged interest-rate manipulation, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Citing two people close to the probe, the paper also said a few UBS employees under investigation for interest-rate manipulation still work at the Swiss bank, which has fired or suspended about 20 traders and managers during the four-year investigation.

Justice Department officials could not be reached immediately for comment.

It isn't immediately clear which UBS executives prosecutors are targeting, the paper said. The deals also don't signal a settlement by UBS or impending arrests.

U.S. antitrust officials have been investigating alleged collusion between at least 16 banks to manipulate interest rates, including the London interbank offered rate, or Libor.

UBS is one of the main targets of those regulators, the paper said, citing people close to the investigation.

UBS has disclosed in filings that it received leniency deals from the antitrust regulators in the United States, Switzerland and Canada, the paper said.

However, the bank still faces potential enforcement action by the U.S. Justice Department's fraud section, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Britain's Financial Services Authority.