Barclays to hold internal review of its practices July 2, 2012 BARCLAYS yesterday promised to hold an independent audit of its business practices following its record-breaking £290m fine for abuse of the Libor interest rate. Pledging that all findings will be made publicly available, Barclays said it will “undertake a root and branch review of all of the past practices that have been revealed as flawed [...]
Paul Tucker could be called before MPs over Libor scandal July 2, 2012 TOP Bank of England policymaker Paul Tucker could face a grilling from MPs over his relationship with embattled Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond, if members of the influential Treasury Select Committee (TSC) get their way. “It is highly likely we will want to cross-examine top officials from the Bank of England, as well as the [...]
Bob Diamond says sorry to staff for reputational damage to bank July 2, 2012 BARCLAYS chief executive Bob Diamond yesterday tried to put to bed any rumours that he might be leaving the bank after it was shamed with a £290m fine for fixing the Libor interest rate. In a memo issued to staff, the Barclays chief executive said: “I understand why the reaction has been severe. No one [...]
Regulator says fine will not be isolated case July 2, 2012 BARCLAYS’ record fine for rigging Libor interest rates should be a “watershed” moment for the wider financial industry to clean up its act and restore public trust, the head of enforcement at the City watchdog said yesterday. The Libor penalty and last week’s news that the UK’s top four banks mis-sold interest rate swaps to [...]
Sir Stelios calls for Rake’s head over the fiasco July 2, 2012 EASYJET founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou yesterday weighed in to the furore surrounding the Barclays Libor-fixing scandal, calling for the head of Sir Mike Rake. Rake, the Barclays senior independent director who was yesterday promoted to deputy chairman, also serves as chairman of EasyJet. “As Mike Rake is chairman of the relevant audit sub-committee and a [...]
Why rivals are banking on Diamond’s downfall July 2, 2012 Whenever a banking scandal breaks in the City, be it rogue trade allegations at UBS, a massive trading loss at JP Morgan or the current Libor interest rates scandal, the first concern is for the reputation of the industry as a whole. But, investment bankers being possibly the most competitive bunch on the universe, the [...]
Knight and the BBA put banker bash on hold July 2, 2012 Angela Knight, the departing chief executive of the British Bankers’ Association, was yesterday forced to cancel the industry body’s summer party amid the continuing furore over the Libor interest rate scandal. News of the scrapped banker bash came via an email from Ben Andersen-Tuffnell to invitees, advising them that the shindig, planned for tomorrow on [...]
Sir Nigel Rudd is an angel July 2, 2012 The problems of Libor fixing haven’t prevented the British Bankers’ Association from working on other issues. Yesterday the industry trade body launched the UK Business Angels Association, which will promote angel investing in the UK, with Sir Nigel Rudd as its new chairman. The new group will have a dedicated team and will be located [...]
UK banking and commodities rally on likelihood of economic stimulus July 2, 2012 BRITAIN’S top shares extended gains yesterday, led by rallies in banking and commodity stocks, with the market primed for fresh economic stimulus moves later this week, building on measures agreed by an EU summit to counter the Eurozone debt crisis. But some commentators were more pessimistic on the market outlook, feeling that with uncertainties still [...]
Libor needs swift modernisation to recapture trust July 2, 2012 WE SHOULD be under no illusion about how catastrophic the failure of the Libor rate setting mechanisms has been. There has been widespread manipulation of the most important price of risk. And we don’t need reminding how important the price mechanism is for the allocation of everything from goods to services, and of course capital. [...]