By Patrick Clark 9/28/12 7:52am

Morning Read

FSA to Announce New Libor Plan; Ex-Credit Suisse CDO Chief to Fight Extradition: Roundup

The British Financial Services Authority is wresting oversight of the London interbank lending rate from the British Bankers Association as part of an overhaul of the process by which Libor is set. The British government will take a more hands on role, and submissions will be delayed for three months, perhaps diminishing the temptation to rig rates for the purpose of managing perception of a bank’s health.

Right on time, The Wall Street Journal has an “analysis” that shows Libor doesn’t actually reflect banks’ borrowing costs.

Kareem Serageldin, the former head of Credit Suisse’s CDO business arrested in London on Wednesday, said he will fight extradition to the U.S. When Mr. Serageldin was charges in February for running a scheme to falsify trading positions, he expressed surprise over the indictment, noting through lawyers that he was cooperating with attorneys. When he was nabbed outside the U.S. embassy in London this week, he said through a lawyer that he was working on a plea deal, and that his capture was the result of “miscommunication.” Read More

By Patrick Clark 9/26/12 8:49am

Morning Read

Greece, Spain Come Apart Over Austerity Measures; “Libor Fixing Can Make You That Much Money”: Roundup

More than 50,000 Greeks marched on the nation’s parliament to protest austerity measures required by bailout agreements, according to Reuters: ”‘We can’t just sit by idly and do nothing while the troika and the government destroy our lives,’ said Dimitra Kontouli, a 49-year-old local government employee whose salary was cut to 1,100 euros a month from 1,600 euros previously.”

Spain is moving towards accepting European bailouts, even as protests in Madrid turned violent and politicians in the Catalonia region called for secession.

“It’s just amazing how Libor fixing can make you that much money or lose if opposite.” So said Tan Chi Min, a former Royal Bank of Scotland trader in a conversation with traders at other banks, in an affidavit reviewed by Bloomberg. “It’s a cartel now in London.” Tan is suing RBS in Singapore for wrongful dismissal after being fired for attempting to manipulate Libor. Read More

By Patrick Clark 9/24/12 8:09am

Credit Crisis Turns Tables on Spain; For Credit Agricole Expensive to Get Out of Greece: Roundup

In the earlier years of the European debt crisis, Spain pushed for Ireland and Portugal to accept international bailouts, lest the confidence in those countries’ ability to repay borrowers spread to neighboring countries (i.e. Spain). Now foreign leaders are urging the Madrid-based government to ask for help from the European Central Bank, and Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy is resisting.

Credit Agricole’s 2006 purchase of Emporiki Bank of Greece may cost the French lender another $779 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Credit Agricole has already written off billions on Emporiki, which has been roiled by the Greek economic crisis; the French bank is in the process of selling Emporiki, for an expected price of 1 euro. Read More

By Patrick Clark 9/20/12 7:56am

Morning Read

Critics of High-Frequency Trading Take to Capitol Hill; Hedge Funder Asks, ‘What’s Wrong With Nimbyism?’ Roundup

The Senate Banking Committee will hold hearings on high-frequency trading today, and the Wall Street Journal meets the star witnesses: Dave Lauer, a former trader at Citadel and Allston Capital who plans to tell lawmakers that high-speed trading has made markets less fair for many participants; and Andy Brooks, head of U.S. trading for T. Rowe Price, who will say that rules governing high-frequency trading generally favor bodies with short-term profit incentives. Read More

By Patrick Clark 9/04/12 4:05pm

Free advice

airport

Service Journalism for Libor Manipulators

These are precarious times for the employees of financial firms, what with regulators elbowing each other over the biggest and best cases, looming criminal charges arising from the Justice Department’s Libor investigation, to say nothing of the SEC’s willingness to target middle managers (i.e. Brian Stoker), criminal investigations into JPMorgan’s trading losses, recent verdicts in municipal bond bid-rigging cases, etc. Point being, there’s plenty to worry about that. Read More

By Patrick Clark 7/27/12 7:48am

Morning Read

DoJ Said to Prep Libor Charges Against Multiple Banks; Eddie Lambert Moved Hedge Fund to Florida, Left Staff Behind: Roundup

Libor-ated: U.S. prosecutors are preparing to file criminal charges this fall in the Libor-rigging scandal, and employees at more than one bank are said to be implicated, Bloomberg reports. (Earlier in the week, John Carney looked at what types of criminal charges might be filed, and writes that decades-long sentences could be at Read More

By Patrick Clark 8:23am

Morning Read

Libor Arrests Said to be Near; Nasdaq Sweetens Refund for Facebook Flop: Roundup

Libor arrests: U.S. and European regulators are on the verge of arresting traders believed to have manipulated Libor and other interbank lending rates, Reuters reports. The arrests, and criminal prosecutions or plea agreements to follow, are largely separate from enforcement actions regulators are pursuing against individual banks.

Soft tactics: The Federal Reserve Bank of Read More