Reuters reported that Britain said on Thursday it had brought in the fraud squad to investigate possible crimes and would tighten laws over attempts to manipulate lending rates resulting from the recent scandal involving Barclays, which is expected to spread to other banks.

According to the report, more than 20 other banks are being probed by regulators from London to Japan and Brussels to North America.

The Reuters report states Barclays has agreed to pay a record $453 million fine to U.S. and British regulators for attempting to manipulate the LIBOR rate in 2005-08. It is the first bank to settle in a case that also includes most of the world's other largest financial institutions.
 
The LIBOR rate is used throughout the financial system to set loan rates around the world. By manipulating them, banks could make their own balance sheets look better.