The fines to Barclays only amounted to 10 days profit...peanuts. Expect a few heads to roll, mostly at lower levels in the scale of the fraud, but generally it will be covered up and/or the public's attention will be diverted.
At least the British press seem to be doing a good job in informing the public...right back to the level of the privately owned Bank of England. May the bullets hit their mark.
"The interest rate rigging scandal that has engulfed Barclays was the result of a coordinated attempt at collusion by traders working for a coterie of leading banks over at least five years, according to a series of lawsuits and legal rulings filed in courts in Asia and North America.
The lawsuits allege the fraud was extensive, spanning at least three continents and involving trades worth tens of billions of pounds. The allegations raise further serious questions about the banks' ability to police themselves and the role of senior management in monitoring the activities of their employees.
In a 28-page statement of facts relating to last week's revelation that Barclays had been fined a total of £290m, the US Department of Justice discloses how a network of traders working on both sides of the Atlantic conspired to influence both the Libor and Euribor interest rates – the rates at which banks lend to each other. It was, in effect, a worldwide conspiracy against the free functioning of the market.
The size of the fines was significant and the opprobrium heaped on Barclays unremitting. "This is the most damaging scam I can recall," said Andrew Tyrie, chair of parliament's Treasury select committee. "It appears that many banks were involved and Barclays were the first to own up." www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jun/30/banking-scandal-barclays-lawsuits-libor
"Bob Diamond had a conversation with Paul Tucker about how much Barclays was claiming it had to pay to borrow money during the financial crisis in 2008.
After Mr Diamond spoke to Mr Tucker, Barclays staff came to believe the Bank of England wanted them to falsify this data — which was used to calculate Libor, the interest rate that banks pay to each other.
The bank’s traders then escalated their secret attempts to manipulate the markets and make it appear that the bank was paying less to borrow money than was actually the case, documents show.
Last night sources at both banks insisted this was the result of a “misunderstanding”. They insisted that Mr Tucker had not sanctioned Barclays’ actions."
