UK fraud agency charges three ex-Barclays bankers over Libor

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's fraud agency has started criminal proceedings against three former bankers of Britain's Barclays Plc for the alleged manipulation of Libor interest rates, it said on Monday.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said criminal proceedings had started against Peter Charles Johnson, Jonathan James Mathew and Stylianos Contogoulas, alleging they conspired to defraud between June 2005 and August 2007.

Barclays paid $450 million in July 2012 to settle charges it had manipulated Libor interest rates, and several more banks have followed and regulators continue to investigate the scandal.

(Reporting by Steve Slater; Editing by Huw Jones)