Article by Nilam Sharma, Simon Cooper, Camilla
Leslie and Rachel Bernie
The storm surrounding the manipulation of Libor rates by some of
the world's leading banks has been brewing largely unnoticed
since 2005. That storm finally broke in spectacular fashion last
week when Barclays was fined a total of £290 million by
regulators in the UK and the US. This includes a fine of
£59.5million by the FSA – the largest it has ever
levied. But this seem likely to be just the tip of the iceberg with
other banks in the UK, including RBS, Lloyds and HSBC also
apparently under investigation and regulators in Canada and Japan,
as well as the US and UK, continuing to pursue their enquiries. It
is widely reported in the press that RBS will face a fine of
£150 million. Extensive civil litigation also seems likely
with one class action in the US already announced and others
threatened. So what is it about and what does it mean for
insurers?
