The British Bankers' Association (BBA), the lobby group that oversees Libor, proposed cutting the number of currencies and maturities included in the benchmark within the next five months following the rate-rigging scandal.

The lobby group plans to end quoting rates in Australian and New Zealand dollars at the end of February, and the Canadian dollar, Danish kroner and Swedish kronor rates the following month, the London-based BBA said in a statement today. The group also proposed to stop publishing “interim maturities” such as the two-week, two-month and nine-month tenors for all currencies by the end of January.

The announcement follows a regulator's review of the London interbank offered rate after Barclays Plc was fined a record 290 million pounds ($463 million) for rigging the benchmark. Martin Wheatley, a managing director at the Financial Services Authority, recommended cutting the number of quoted rates to as few as 20 from 150, because the lack of trades in some currencies and maturities makes it almost impossible for the banks that contribute to the rate to state their borrowing costs accurately.