British Banks Announce Libor Rate-Setting Reform
The British Bankers' Association on Wednesday announced changes to Libor interest-rate transparency in a bid to avoid a repeat of last year's rate-rigging scandal.
The BBA said publication of banks' individual submissions would be embargoed for three months in a move aimed at avoiding possible "manipulation of the rate".
It added in a statement that the change, which follows recommendations of a review initiated by the British government, would take effect from July 1.
The Wheatley Review, published last September, had stated that the "BBA should publish individual Libor submissions after three months to reduce the potential for submitters to attempt manipulation, and to reduce any potential interpretation of submissions as a signal of creditworthiness".
The BBA on Wednesday said that individual bank submissions would "remain available in real-time to the Libor benchmark administrators for the purposes of calculating the rate and for monitoring and surveillance".
The Libor scandal erupted last year when Barclays bank was fined £290 million ($470 million, 363 million euros) by British and U.S. regulators for attempted manipulation of Libor and Euribor interbank rates between 2005 and 2009.
Libor is a flagship instrument used all over the world, affecting what banks, businesses and individuals pay to borrow money. Euribor is the eurozone equivalent.
The Libor is calculated daily, using estimates from banks of their own interbank rates. However, the system has been found to be open to abuse, with some traders lying about borrowing costs to boost trading positions or make their bank seem more secure.
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/86630 |