Although it is too early predict the fate of the six traders charged by the U.K.’s Securities Fraud Office (SFO) for allegedly manipulating Euribor, the unexpectedly long jail sentence of Tom Hayes in a similar case could set a precedent if they are found guilty. Hayes is a former UBS and Citigroup derivatives trader who… Read More >>
Barclays to Settle RMBS Lawsuits for $325 Million
Barclays has reached a $325 million settlement with a U.S. government agency that regulates federal credit unions, bringing to an end a lawsuit against the Barclays Capital investment banking subsidiary over the sale of allegedly faulty residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) to corporate credit unions that allegedly failed as a result of the transactions. The agreement… Read More >>
CBOE and EFP to Launch Lending Exchange
Environmental Financial Products, LLC (EFP) and CBOE Holdings, Inc. (CBOE) report their intention to launch the American Financial Exchange (AFX), an electronic marketplace for small and mid-sized banks looking to lend and borrow short-term funds. AFX will also feature weekly auctions of a new, transaction-based benchmark rate for U.S. interbank lending, to be called Ameribor…. Read More >>
Regulators Will Likely Pay Attention to the Senator’s Letter
As FTF News is reporting, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren is reaching out to six federal regulators via letters to raise concerns that the banks and trading firms using Symphony Communications’ instant messaging and collaboration services will have their interactions hidden from regulatory scrutiny. First, I am impressed that a U.S. Senator and her staff have… Read More >>
The First Conviction in the LIBOR Scandal
The situation sounds almost like a bad, high-concept synopsis for a Hollywood movie — maybe “Rain Man” meets “Wall Street” — but the reality is far less glamorous. In the U.K., Tom Hayes, described by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as “the first individual to be charged and stand trial” in an ongoing criminal investigation… Read More >>
The Fed Hits Six Banks with Record Fines
The Federal Reserve has imposed $1.8 billion in fines, “among the largest ever assessed,” against UBS, Barclays Bank, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase & Co., the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Bank of America Corp. (BofA) for what Fed officials call “their unsafe and unsound practices in the foreign exchange (FX) markets.” The dollar amounts for… Read More >>
Deutsche Bank’s $2.5B Fine Puts Focus Back on Compliance
Despite revealing massive fraud at one of the world’s largest financial institutions, Deutsche Bank’s recent $2.5 billion settlement with regulations could have a silver lining, industry observers say. Deutsche Bank’s fine came at the end of a seven-year probe into manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) by its traders and exposed widespread fraud… Read More >>
LIBOR Fallout: Lloyds Fires Eight
Lloyds Banking Group, which this past summer paid $370 million to settle charges in the U.S. and the U.K. that between 2006 and 2009 it had been involved in the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and other benchmark interest rates, reports that eight employees have been dismissed in connection with the scandal…. Read More >>
Lloyds Entities Penalized for LIBOR Schemes
CFTC officials have charged Lloyds Banking Group plc and Lloyds Bank plc (formerly known as Lloyds TSB Bank plc) with “serious misconduct,” including the “manipulation, attempted manipulation, and false reporting of LIBOR.” In response, the two Lloyds entities have agreed to “pay a $105 million civil monetary penalty, [to] cease and desist from their violations… Read More >>
NYSE to Administer LIBOR as Ageon Goes Global with Markit EDM
NYSE Euronext Hopes to Redeem LIBOR A subsidiary of NYSE Euronext — the NYSE Euronext Rate Administration — will be the new administrator for the London Interbank Offered Rate or LIBOR and exchange officials are hoping they can redeem the reputation of the interest rate benchmark, tarnished by scandal.LIBOR reference rates are used for short-term… Read More >>
