The European Commission has amended its proposals for insider trading and market manipulation legislation to fight rate fixing. Manipulation of benchmarks such as LIBOR and EURIBOR will be explicitly prohibited and subject to sanctions. The EU's justice ministers agreed to the Commission's amended proposals in December 2012 and the European Parliament is expected to discuss the proposals in May 2013.
ESMA and EBA have drawn up draft guidelines for the setting of EURIBOR and for the supervision of banks involved in the setting process:
- Report on the administration and management of EURIBOR (link)
- Principles for Benchmarks-Setting Processes in the EU (consultation)
- EBA Recommendations on supervisory oversight of activities related to banks' participation in the EURIBOR panel (link)
IOSCO is holding a consultation until 11 February 2013 about rules for and supervision of financial benchmark setting (link).
See Financial Markets Newsletter of November 2011 for a longer summary of the new rules on market manipulation and insider dealing.
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