Diamond in the rough

Diamond in the rough


Barclays has been fined £290m for attempting to manipulate Libor, the world’s benchmark bank borrowing rate. Shareholders and political figures are now calling for Bob Diamond, Barclays chief executive, to resign. Mr Diamond, and three of the bank’s senior managers, including the finance director, have said they will not take bonuses this year as a result of the findings.

What remains unclear is the extent of knowledge within Barclays of the manipulation. Barclays has already dismissed several staff over Libor manipulation and is in the process of firing others linked to the false submissions. Financial regulators have warned that other major British banks may also have been involved in attempts to manipulate data about interest rates. The banks will need to act promptly and conduct rigorous internal investigations, taking decisive action against those involved in order to navigate themselves through the storm.

So, unfortunately, this seems to be only the beginning of another scandal to hit Britain’s banking sector, at a time when Britain’s economy needs all the help it can get.