[DaveO]

One law for the.... : Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:48 am  

Banks? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18622264 and http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/27/barclays-bank-big-obey-rules This is absolutely stunning IMO. The key point form that is this: "Strip away the acronyms and the charges against Barclays are straightforward. Its traders and senior management are accused of tampering with two key interest rates to bolster their own profits. And they apparently did this not once, but repeatedly over four years." Why aren't people being arrested as I type this? A paltry fine from the FSA isn't right. It amounts to 10 days profit of Barclays bank. What is more fining the institution itself only hurts the shareholders not the perpetrators of the crime If I defrauded anyone out of as few thousand quid I would be in the dock. People need to do jail time for this but I doubt they will.

Banks? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18622264 and http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/27/barclays-bank-big-obey-rules This is absolutely stunning IMO. The key point form that is this: "Strip away the acronyms and the charges against Barclays are straightforward. Its traders and senior management are accused of tampering with two key interest rates to bolster their own profits. And they apparently did this not once, but repeatedly over four years." Why aren't people being arrested as I type this? A paltry fine from the FSA isn't right. It amounts to 10 days profit of Barclays bank. What is more fining the institution itself only hurts the shareholders not the perpetrators of the crime If I defrauded anyone out of as few thousand quid I would be in the dock. People need to do jail time for this but I doubt they will.

Re: One law for the.... : Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:51 am  

How can you possibly compare this to areal crime – such as looting a bottle of water during last summer's riots – and suggest that those who got a little muddled at a bank should be punished in anything like the same way as a real criminal?

And the fine is a disgrace too: Barclays should be excused it – just as Goldman Sachs were excused a fine for something or other.

[DaveO]

Re: One law for the.... : Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:28 am  

Mintball wrote:

How can you possibly compare this to areal crime – such as looting a bottle of water during last summer's riots – and suggest that those who got a little muddled at a bank should be punished in anything like the same way as a real criminal?

And the fine is a disgrace too: Barclays should be excused it – just as Goldman Sachs were excused a fine for something or other.

Quite. And Bob Diamond is totally blameless as well. Why on earth should he have known how his bank set its LIBOR rate (which is a fundamental indicator of a banks financial health amongst other things)? Why on earth would he take an interest in that?

Re: One law for the.... : Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:31 am  

Was pondering starting a thread myself, but in the spirit of this thread I'm so annoyed that they can't be left to their own devices without being bothered by pesky things like morals and "the law". I'll happily donate my house and all its contents to Barclays to help them pay off the fine. Sterling chaps, every one.

Re: One law for the.... : Thu Jun 28, 2012 12:40 pm  

Interestingly and more peversely, the fine is levied by the FSA and paid by Barclays. The fines the FSA collect are then taken into account when setting the levies on the banks to pay for the functions of the FSA.

So this fine will be directly reflected by lower bank levies to police the banks. Effectively giving Barclays a discount on its fine.

You definitely couldn't make that one up

Re: One law for the.... : Thu Jun 28, 2012 1:02 pm  

cod'ead wrote:

Interestingly and more peversely, the fine is levied by the FSA and paid by Barclays. The fines the FSA collect are then taken into account when setting the levies on the banks to pay for the functions of the FSA.

So this fine will be directly reflected by lower bank levies to police the banks. Effectively giving Barclays a discount on its fine.

You definitely couldn't make that one up

Lol and if it turns out that they were all in on it and end up with similar fines they might end up as a direct offset to the levies.
I'm also sure I heard from the FSA spokeswoman last night that they'd entered a no prosecution agreement with Barclays.

Re: One law for the.... : Thu Jun 28, 2012 1:05 pm  

cod'ead wrote:

Interestingly and more peversely, the fine is levied by the FSA and paid by Barclays. The fines the FSA collect are then taken into account when setting the levies on the banks to pay for the functions of the FSA.

So this fine will be directly reflected by lower bank levies to police the banks. Effectively giving Barclays a discount on its fine.

You definitely couldn't make that one up

Although to be fair Osborne is trying to get it paid to government to benefit taxpayers.

Re: One law for the.... : Thu Jun 28, 2012 1:10 pm  

Apparently, no criminal act has been committed in terms of the FSMA. Personally, I find it hard to believe that there has not been a criminal act committed under other legislation (and if not, the law is an ass). Now, if a criminal act has been committed and the perpetrators benefitted financially (which from the allegations seems likely) then surely they could have their assets seized and be jailed under the Proceeds of Crime Act? It's about time this country got tough on this sort of thing.

Re: One law for the.... : Thu Jun 28, 2012 1:28 pm  

From BBC

"London Inter Bank Offered Rate. The rate at which banks in London lend money to each other for the short-term in a particular currency. A new Libor rate is calculated every morning by financial data firm Thomson Reuters based on interest rates provided by members of the British Bankers Association."

So a private company (with no interest in making money ) is calculating interest rates by which other private companies (with an interest in making money) are then, er, making money. But the second company is providing duff info to the first for the calculations so that they benefit more. Sounds extremely dodgy to me.

Re: One law for the.... : Thu Jun 28, 2012 1:39 pm  

Chris28 wrote:

... Sounds extremely dodgy to me.

Well, what can you expect of a system at the heart of the casino economy?