If Sir Mervyn King can arrange for Bob Diamond’s demise at Barclays, even though he was cleared of personal wrongdoing over Libor, why not exercise a little more coercive power over banks lending money into the real economy?
The US pressed the Bank of England to improve the Libor system before Lehman Bros collapsed in 2008 amid reports that Barclays and other global banks were rate rigging, newly released e-mails show.
Today’s cache of Paul tucker emails released by the Bank of England puts the Libor scandal in a rather different context. The big picture here: the post-07 Libor “scandal” is the tree. The concerning financial health of Barclays Bank in October 2998 is the woods. The now Deputy Governor of the Bank of England is shown to be exchanging emails about Barclays’ financial position from a full week before the famous conversation that some have depicted as a Labour plot to illegally to manipulate Libor.
As Bank of England Deputy Governor Paul Tucker appears in front of MPs, the bank releases emails that shed more light on the Barclays rate-fixing scandal.
The Serious Fraud Office is investigating claims that banks rigged benchmark interest rates to boost their bonuses in a scandal that has already forced out three Barclays executives.
Another £50bn has been injected into the economy as Britain struggles to climb out of the double-dip recession – but pensioners and savers say they will come off worse.
Gary Gibbon
Gary Gibbon blogs on who the Treasury select committee may want to call to explain themselves.
With former Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond appearing in front of MPs later, Channel 4 News looks at the questions he is likely to be asked.
On a day when it’s pretty clear that the authorities asserted dominion over our banking system, I was invited atop the Canary Wharf tower that houses Barclays to speak to its now un-resigned executive chairman Marcus Agius. He is not prone to lengthy answers, but I think much of what he does and does not say is rather telling.
Gary Gibbon
The email from Bob Diamond to fellow Barclays bosses raises serious questions for the Bank of England’s Paul Tucker, seen by many as the heir apparent to Mervyn King. Gary Gibbon blogs about the latest development in the Libor scandal.
As applications to ethical banking rise following a bad week for the big five banks, Channel 4 News looks at the alternatives to high street banking.
Bob Diamond breaks his silence in an open letter to the Treasury select committee chairman, denying that senior staff were involved in fixing the bank’s rates. Read his letter in full.
With Barclays under pressure after admitting trying to manipulate key lending rates, Channel 4 News looks at the measures the eurozone is proposing to reform banking.
Faisal Islam blogs on how Barclays started to try and make money from changing its rates – and why ‘Lie-bor’ London should be afraid.
Sir Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, today used the continuing IT meltdown at RBS and NatWest to criticise the structure of the bailed-out banking group. He had stern words for RBS’s management, saying that the FSA should carry out a “full investigation” of the week-long computer problems.