I cannot believe that I have missed this when it was making its way up the shitter.
What, you ask?
That LIBOR, which is as basic a rate as you can find in the whole of finance, was consistently manipulated by Barclays (and God knows who else).
If you're a finance guy, think of it for a second. LIBOR is the bedrock of any (and most) deals done throughout the world. There are more than $360 TRILLION worth of contracts which are based directly on the LIBOR rate. 360-Fucking-Trillion. And these guys are manipulating this rate. It is insane.
The best part? Barclays paid a $450 million fine and (I suppose) walks away. That's it. Nothing more. That 0.000125% of whatever damage they may have caused.
And there might be some criminal cases against a few employees, who obviously cannot afford to pay $450 million.
As I say again, this is insane. They manipulated LIBOR. Look, I know the world of high finance isn't all fairies and chocolates, but even I thought there would be a limit somewhere. Duping retail investors, forcible foreclosures etc. etc. are basically crimes by finance against outsiders (or normal society, as we call them). I wan't as jaded as to think finance guys would turn on other finance guys, especially on something as fundamental as this.
Must know more about this. I am woefully under-educated. Stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment