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The LIBOR Scandal



LIBOR has an influence on interest rates around the world; but recently there have been some questions raised about the rigging of interest rates. Barclays already had to pay over $45 million in fines and it looks like there may be many more fines, and possibly lawsuits to come. Many say that regulators should impose more fines on some of the other 16 banks that are members of the British Bankers Association in hopes that there will never be a repeat.

LIBOR is the London Interbank Offered Rate which is the rate which these 16 banks charge one another for short term deposits and loans. This rate becomes a benchmark for interest rates set worldwide. It influences literally hundreds of trillions of dollars. LIBOR has an influence on various financial contracts corporate loans such as those managed by companies such as Effi Enterprises, interest rate swaps and floating rate mortgages.

Presently, there is much talk about criminal charges and possible jail terms for those involved. Asia, Europe, Canada and the US are investigating what looks like a huge picture of deceit and avarice. Banks must submit their data to be used in calculating the LIBOR; but in order to hide their own institution’s financial problems, or to boost profits for traders, they have submitted falsified data. Remember, that the LIBOR influences interest rates around the world so the repercussions of these devious acts are felt worldwide. Because it affects interest rates, investment firms like Effi Enterprises have been affected by the lowered benchmark.

Lawsuits are pending but as they are pursued they can mean global financial disaster. Municipal governments and investment firms purchased bonds or have entered into financial contracts which were based on LIBOR. They are now asking for compensation from the banks since they intentionally manipulated the benchmark. If the suits take place as it is assumed they will we are talking about potentially tens of billions of dollars that will have to be paid out.

Just so we understand how large of an impact this could have let’s say that LIBOR was only 0.1 percent off for one year. In that time the incongruity on the $300 trillion of swaps could easily mean that the rates were off by up to about $300 billion. This is just one type of contract; it doesn’t even take into account all the other types of contracts or any punitive damages that might be sought. It’s big enough the entire banking system could be crippled.

One suggested option would be for the banks to set up a compensation fund for the victims of LIBOR so that all the banks could pool resources to pay out. An administrator would need to be independent but he could generate a transparent formula which could estimate and calculate the damages that have been done. If the banks at least attempt to right the wrong clients might be more willing to settle instead of pursuing litigation which would be much more costly.

Of course this would take much cooperation among these banks. They would need to decide how much LIBOR had been skewed because of the misreports. Then they would also have to decide how much of the financial liability each bank should be responsible for. Government involvement could help to expedite the process. There may be more regulations set by governments which could help improve the bank’s transparency. Had they maintained transparency this would have never happened in the first place. Perhaps this is a lesson for all of those who deal with financial institutions. Consumers and businesses can benefit from open and honest transparency.


The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act

Wall Street

Wall Street


Safeguarding Consumers



Insurance, Securitized Investments and Derivatives


New Indicators for the Economy


Economic Impact
