What's this? The banking sector beahving unscrupulously again?

[CHAPPERS]

Barclays chief Bob Diamond gives up 2012 bonus over £290m fine | Business | guardian.co.uk

Barclays has been slapped with total fines of £290m for its "serious, widespread" role in manipulating the price of crucial interest rates in a move that has forced chief executive Bob Diamond and other top executives to forgo any bonuses for 2012.

The £59.5m fine from the Financial Services Authority is the largest penalty ever levied by the City regulator, which found that Barclays contravened its rules for a number of years and involved "a significant number of employees".

The other penalties paid by Barclays are to settle with the US authorities, the department of justice ($200m) and the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission ($160m), as part of an industry wide probe into the way that interest rates traded between banks were set.

The investigation covered the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) and the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) both of which play a critical role in setting the rates of interest that households and major companies pay to borrow.

Libor is used as a benchmark for setting financial contracts and interest rates around the world and is overseen by the British Bankers' Association. The BBA is conducting its own review which will be published later on Wednesday. Banks are asked which rate they think they will be able to borrow from each other for periods of time ranging from overnight to 12 months in currencies including sterling, dollars, euros, yen and Swiss francs.

The FSA found that Barclays had been making submissions to the process that were intended to allow the bank to make profits through its traders speculating on interest rates and reduced the price it submitted during the financial crisis because of management concerns over negative media comment. The FSA said that Barclays' top management was concerned that the higher prices it was saying it expected to borrow at were making it appear that it had liquidity during the crisis – and so the bank ended up submitting lower prices than it would otherwise have done.

The FSA made a damning criticism of Barclays and warned other banks that more cases were to come. Tracey McDermott, acting director of enforcement and financial crime, said the misconduct was "serious, widespread and extended over a number of years".

"Making submissions to try to benefit trading positions is wholly unacceptable. This was possible because Barclays failed to ensure it had proper controls in place. Barclays' behaviour threatened the integrity of the rates with the risk of serious harm to other market participants," said McDermott.

"The FSA continues to pursue a number of other significant cross-border investigations in this area and the action we have taken against Barclays should leave firms in no doubt about the serious consequences of this type of failure."

Diamond, who has been pledging to make Barclays a better corporate citizen, is giving up his bonus for 2012 as a result.

"The events which gave rise to today's resolutions relate to past actions which fell well short of the standards to which Barclays aspires in the conduct of its business. When we identified those issues, we took prompt action to fix them and co-operated extensively and proactively with the authorities," Diamond said.

"Nothing is more important to me than having a strong culture at Barclays; I am sorry that some people acted in a manner not consistent with our culture and values."

The boss of Barclays Capital (the investment banking arm) Rich Ricci; the chief operating offer Jerry del Missier and finance director Chris Lucas are giving up their bonuses too.

Giving up their bonuses? Those fuckers should be SACKED.

Shouldn't he also be giving back the bonuses he recieved at the time that this was going on?

f***ing ***** the lot of em.

 

[Common as Mook]

Barclays chief Bob Diamond gives up 2012 bonus over £290m fine | Business | guardian.co.uk



Giving up their bonuses? Those fuckers should be SACKED.

Shouldn't he also be giving back the bonuses he recieved at the time that this was going on?

f***ing ***** the lot of em.

Pretty sure Bob Diamond wasn't CEO when it happened. It was John Varley.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Sack him too then.

And get his massive bonuses back off him.

 

[Common as Mook]

Sack him too then.

And get his massive bonuses back off him.

He's retired.

 

[CHAPPERS]

He's retarded.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Pretty sure Bob Diamond wasn't CEO when it happened. It was John Varley.

Being CEO is not relevant, 3 other directors have passed up their bonuses & Diamond did head up the Investment Banking Division BarCap at the time...taking back 5 years of past bonuses would be a lively call

 

[Brightonfan1983]

It's getting to the point with the Banking Sector that whatever they do and whatever comes to light, a) people are rightfully up in arms, then b) multi-millionaire bosses give up a relatively MINUTE bag of pennies, and quickly c) say sorry, before d) business returns to normal. The little people are left with nothing but a small seething feeling of bottled-up impotence.

I'm sure Malcolm Gladwell and the like have come up with a handy term to describe this, a la Tipping Point.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

Interesting Wiki article on them plus banking generally.

I'm no activist, but it's good to have a rant sometimes!

Barclays - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Peteinblack]

It's the 'culture of entitlement' in the City and company boardrooms that Cameron ought to be attacking, instead of playing divide-and-rule by attacking everyone on welfare.

But he won't, of course, because these greedy scum fund the Tories, so ordinary people will have to have their jobs, wages, benefits and services cut instead, in order to ensure that those at the top continue lining their bulging pockets with their multi-million pound salaries and bonuses.

I shall now go and lie down in a dark room.

 

[n1 gull]

Barclays Bank - Newsnight

Wow, how big will this become?

I'm no mortgage expert, apart from paying for one, but surely this is a really big deal that will run and run..

 

[beorhthelm]

it will involve all the major banks, it has to otherwise it wouldnt be happening.

the thing about setting prices of mortgages and loans is over playerd though, its in the order of 0.01% differences. that matters to some trader with a 10 billion but not so much for a loan.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

"I am sorry that some people acted in a manner not consistent with our culture and values." - Bob Diamond

WRONG, you crook. People acted in a manner entirely consistent with your culture and values. And you're obviously not "sorry".

 

[Pavilionaire]

Diamond has to go.

 

[cloud]

It's not just Barclays. The way they calculate LIBOR is highly suspect anyway; the banks effectively name the figure, rather than it being decided in a free market.

Their staff will be betting/hedging on the LIBOR rate, while upstairs the board is deciding what it is going to be!

 

[Deleted member 22389]

After everything that has happend before this. This is what I find so annoying.

As a protest I am going to be moving my savings out of Barclays. I know they wouldn't give a shit, but If we don't stand together as customers these banks will keep doing it over and over again. None of these politicians are going to say a word about it because they have buddies working at these places, and they are also part of the problem.

Some might say that in the long run it acheives nothing, and your probably right.
I presume if eveyone started doing it the bank would probably collapse?
Someone then please tell me how you we can all show these banks our displeasure with what they do and hit them where it hurts, in their own pockets?

These banks are worse than criminals. You can't trust any of them. What I have savings wise, these crooks probably earn that in a day.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

it will involve all the major banks, it has to otherwise it wouldnt be happening.

the thing about setting prices of mortgages and loans is over playerd though, its in the order of 0.01% differences. that matters to some trader with a 10 billion but not so much for a loan.

0.01 is £180 a year on a £1500 a month mortgage. That's significant for a household.

How do I get my money back?

 

[beorhthelm]

As a protest I am going to be moving my savings out of Barclays.

wait before you do as theres more to come. Barclays have just come out to apologies/take the rap on the knuckles first. probably to get a reduced fine.

0.01 is £180 a year on a £1500 a month mortgage. That's significant for a household.

How do I get my money back?

its £1.80, you've calculated 1% not 0.01%. and thats if its an interest only mortgage. and that its not fixed or that the rate is actually set from the Libor not BoE base rate (any mortgage experts care to input on the number of mortgages that do use Libor?). and you've assumed its been increased. some trader sitting on an overnight loan of £20bn would rather have the rate manipulated the down. during the recent credit shenanigans, it would have generally been in the banks favor to say they are getting credit cheaper than they were.

as much as its wrong, when are we also going to hold the media to account for misinforming us inorder to make a "human" angle on stories?

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

its £1.80, you've calculated 1% not 0.01%

Jesus. How embarrassing. Would you believe that I have a maths degree? In my defence it was early when I posted that shameful piece of arithmetic. I still want my £1.80 back though.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Can you BELIEVE what this guy is called? I mean SERIOUSLY

Barclays.com - Rich Ricci biography

 

[timco]

I don't care how small the sum these thieving bastards have had their hand in my pocket and I want criminal investigation and I want compensation.

Anyone involved and convicted (should be easy to prove against those who sent the emails quoted) should have their assets seized and used to pay back those they stole from.

No different to drug dealers this lot don't care who they hurt, who their victims are just so long as they get their hands on the money.

Yes my mortgage is linked to LIBOR (and I suspect it is still being fixed now)