- Bank of England Governor Mervyn King
What does the Governor know? Paul Tucker (his deputy), gave specific instructions to Barclays to submit false or misleading bids while setting the benchmark Libor rate during the credit crunch crisis of 2008. This implies, regardless if King was directly involved or not, the Bank of England was partly responsible for advocating the manipulation of the Libor rate.
- Lord Myners (City Minister in 2008)
Myners was responsible for overseeing and regulating the City. His brief puts him directly at the centre of any scandal in the financial world, as it was him job to tackle and prevent corruption and fraud; Tucker, in a private memo, clearly states ‘senior’ Whitehall figures were giving advice on the Libor rate. Was Lord Myners one of those figures? (denies any involvement)
- Baroness Vadera (Gordon Brown’s economic advisor)
In 2008, the Baroness co-authored a paper entitled “Reducing Libor” and she was an economic advisor to the Prime Minister. Senior members of the Labour government, according to the Mail, did widely endorse and agree with her paper. Similar to Lord Myners, questions remain whether or not she was one of those ‘senior’ Whitehall figures (Cannot recall any discussions with banks on the Libor rate)
- Ed Balls (close associate of Gordon Brown. City Minister in 2007)
Bloomberg mentioned an allege 2007 memo that-apparently-mentions Ed Balls (who was then City Minister) being made aware of potential manipulation of the Libor rate. Ignoring or failing to address the problem makes his position almost untenable. If he did know, why did he not stop it? More importantly, did he tell anyone else in the government? (Blair & Brown)
Balls denies he was involved in any discussions, during the crash of 2008, as he was Children’s Secretary – his brief did not include fiscal or economic policy.
- Alistair Darling (the then Chancellor of the Exchequer)
Was Chancellor of the Exchequer and directly responsible for implementing the bank bailout plan and praised for stabilising interest rates during the crisis. Darling denies himself or the Treasury held discussions with the Bank of England, or any other bank, to potentially rig the Libor rate in order to provide stability to the financial sector.
IF the Treasury were not privy to any discussions, then who was? Would be remarkable if the Chancellor was not apart of private calls or meetings. Even bigger questions arise if he was excluded….
- Barclays
After heavy fines from the FSA over manipulating the Libor rate and potential financial fraud, the bank have opted for the “Nuremberg defence” – we were following orders. In other words, it was not just them but the entire banking system with the permission of the Bank of England and the government. Unlike News International and Rupert Murdoch, it seems Barclays has the ammunition-and evidence-to bring down its enemies.
A judge-led inquiry is dead, and rightly so, because it will be drawn out and we need answers. Now. Starting with those mentioned above.
danielfurr
