Bafin exonerates Deutsche Bank's Jain in Libor probe: Handelsblatt

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German financial watchdog Bafin has found that Deutsche Bank co-Chief Executive Anshu Jain was neither aware nor part of possible attempts at the German lender to manipulate interest rates, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported. After a two-year investigation, Bafin concluded there was no evidence the bank's board members participated in or knew about any possible interest rate manipulation efforts, the German business daily said, citing unnamed financial sources. Deutsche Bank and Bafin declined to comment on the report. Investigations into the possible abuse of reference rates such as the London interbank offered rate (Libor) or foreign exchange fixings have dogged banks since a post-financial crisis regulatory backlash against the sector. Deutsche Bank said it was cooperating with regulators and conducting its own probe into the possible manipulation of Libor, a benchmark against which some $450 trillion of financial products from derivatives to home loans are priced worldwide. The lender has paid at least 5.6 billion euros ($6.9 billion) in the past two years in fines and settlements and expects to pay around 3 billion euros more this year. ($1 = 0.8145 euro) (Reporting by Alexander Huebner, Kathrin Jones and Christoph Steitz, editing by David Evans)