Banking scandal: how document trail reveals global scam

[MindMover]

It's not a comfortable weekend for the men heading some of the world's biggest banks. Barclays has already been hit by a £290m fine for rigging interest rates but that could be dwarfed by a series of global lawsuits which could cost banks billions.

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.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jun/30/banking-scandal-barclays-lawsuits-libor?CMP=twt_gu

[msongs]

1. fines and no prison time - collusion of our politicians and the banks nt

[Mojorabbit]

2. +1000 nt

[woo me with science]

4. +1000

[bl968]

3. We need a Corporate Death Penality

One that would result in the closing of the company, liquidation of all of its assets, and a bar on the executives and board members preventing them from being involved in another corporation for a fixed period of years.

[RevStPatrick]

7. That's the only way they'll ever learn.

Their bad behavior keeps getting rewarded.
Why should they stop?
Of course, the enforcers are on their side, so nothing's gonna change...

[banned from Kos]

5. LIBOR is the LONDON Interbank Offered Rate

It is not in our jurisdiction although many Americans are affected.

[malaise]

6. Bankers policing themselves is the same as apponting the world's

best art thieves as Security Chiefs for the world's art museums.

[FreeBC]

8. Another day, another banking scandal. Too bad these guys own all the politicians.

[malaise]

9. Gordon Brown resisted a regulatory crackdown!!!

Critics of the system have claimed that the scandal was the inevitable consequence of a casino-style culture that has thrived so aggressively across the City over the last decade.

But if so politicians must share the blame. It was Gordon Brown who in his Mansion House speech in 2006 boasted how he had resisted a "regulatory crackdown" following the accounting scandal that brought down telecoms giant WorldCom. Brown promised the City a "predictable and light touch regulatory environment".

[HiPointDem]

10. kr

[FarCenter]

11. This could be big, particularly if they get into Barclay's role in the collapse of Lehman Brothers

Barclay and Lehman were negotiating Barclay's acquisition of Lehman, but then at the last hour, Barclay pulled out of the deal and Lehman collapsed precipitating the financial crisis of 2008.

[banned from Kos]

13. IIRC the British government nixed that deal.

Which introduces a lot of questions.

[malaise]

12. Is this connected to that video from the House of Lords man

about the massive theft of money

[eppur_se_muova]

14. "serious questions about the banks' ability to police themselves" ... Excuse me ?

How many times have those questions been answered already ? How many times will it take ? Banks have the ability to police themselves -- it is the inclination to do so that is lacking. They will NEVER police themselves effectively enough. Only gov't agencies will ever come close.

Where's the "One Percent Doctrine" for banks ?

If there's a 1% chance that Pakistani scientists are helping al-Qaeda build or develop a nuclear weapon, we have to treat it as a certainty in terms of our response. It's not about our analysis ... It's about our response.

--Dick Cheney

If a few banks can crash the whole world economy, requiring a decade to recover even a remote resemblance to 'normal', shouldn't they be watched with a diligence comparable to that awarded other terrorists ?

[ljm2002]

15. Beat me to it!

I was just getting ready to cut & paste that phrase into a topic header when I scrolled down and caught your post.

I was getting ready to start my remarks with this:

"The thing is, the banks are perfectly capable of policing themselves. It's just that they're not inclined to."

and then saw that you beat me to that, as well:

"Banks have the ability to police themselves -- it is the inclination to do so that is lacking."

So I'll just say: WHAT YOU SAID!!!

[malaise]

16. Latest -Barclays scandal forces out chairman Marcus Agius

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jul/01/barclays-chairman-poised-departure
<snip>
The boardroom reshuffle comes as Barclays gears up for Diamond's appearance before MPs on the Treasury select committee on Wednesday. The American-born chief executive is expected to face tough questions about what changes have been made at the bank since it was landed with a record £290m fine last week.

The fine, and the embarrassing emails disclosing the way traders attempted to manipulate the interest rates with offers of bottles of Bollinger champagne, unleashed a wave of political fury – which will intensify when MPs hold their hearings on Wednesday and Thursday.

Agius, who is also expected to resign as chairman of the industry lobby group, the British Bankers' Association, has had a frosty relationship with shareholders for much of his tenure and had been under some pressure even before the news of attempts to manipulate crucial interest rates.

The bank will be hoping that the departure of Agius takes some of the political heat of the scandal, which led to the prime minister calling for accountability at the top.

But Lord Oakeshott, the Liberal Democrat peer, kept up the pressure: "Marcus Agius going and Bob Diamond staying would be no solution to this scandal. Diamond is the driver and Agius the passenger in the Barclays car crash."
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Time to fire all the criminal bankers