UK's RBS fined $615 million in rate rigging probe

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland will pay $615 million to U.S. and British authorities to settle allegations it manipulated key interest rate benchmarks including the London interbank offered rate (Libor).

The bank said on Wednesday John Hourican, head of RBS's investment bank had agreed to leave following the misconduct of staff in that business.

Part state-owned RBS is the third bank to be punished following investigations into rate-fixing by authorities around the world.

Switzerland's UBS agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle charges while Barclays paid approximately $450 million. (Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Carmel Crimmins and Mark Potter)