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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 17-Jul-2012
17-Jul-12 World View -- Barclay's COO admits having rigged Libor, thought it was OK

Web Log - July, 2012

17-Jul-12 World View -- Barclay's COO admits having rigged Libor, thought it was OK

Russia accuses the West of 'blackmail' on Syria

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Barclay's COO admits having rigged Libor, thought it was OK
Russia accuses the West of 'blackmail' on Syria
Germany's Angela Merkel denies caving in on Spain's bank bailout

Barclay's COO admits having rigged Libor, thought it was OK

Jerry del Missier, testifying on Monday (Bloomberg)

Jerry del Missier, testifying on Monday (Bloomberg)

The former chief operating officer of Barclays Bank received a dramatic drilling on Monday in front of the British Parliament's Treasury Select Committee. Under close questioning, Jerry del Missier said that he had given instructions to Barclays' money market traders to manipulate interest rates in 2008, after he interpreted a message from the Bank of England as an instruction to do so. The Bank of England, as well as del Missier's boss Bob Diamond, have said there was no such instruction. (See "4-Jul-12 World View -- Barclays interest rate manipulation prompts desperate finger-pointing by British officials") During the hearing, del Missier was asked several times whether he believed that these rate-fixing actions were legal or illegal. He refused to answer, saying that the actions were perfectly OK, given the context of the time. The Libor fixing scandal is drawing increased attention as more banks are investigated, because Libor is the benchmark interest rate used in the pricing of some 1/3 of $1 quadrillion in financial instruments worldwide, so even a small change in the Libor rate can affect trillion of dollars in securities. Bloomberg

Russia accuses the West of 'blackmail' on Syria

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of "blackmail" in the United Nations Security Council. Security Council authorization for Kofi Annan's "Syria peace plan" observer mission, which has only increased violence in Syria because it provides an excuse for the Bashar al-Assad regime to exterminate even more innocent Sunni Arab civilians, expires on July 20. The British text for a new resolution extends the observer mission, but it also authorizes "Chapter 7" military enforcement, which Russia refuses to endorse. According to Lavrov,

"To our great regret, there are elements of blackmail. We are being told that if you do not agree to passing the resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, then we shall refuse to extend the mandate of the monitoring mission.
We consider it to be an absolutely counterproductive and dangerous approach, since it is unacceptable to use monitors as bargaining chips."

The issue is becoming even more heated, as there are some unconfirmed reports that al-Assad is planning to begin using chemical weapons. Meanwhile, the UN's wandering Gypsy, Kofi Annan, will visit Moscow on Tuesday for some reason or other. Reuters and AFP

Germany's Angela Merkel denies caving in on Spain's bank bailout

The question is still unresolved whether the European Commission lied when officials said that the 100 billion euro bailout of Spain's banks had to be guaranteed by Spain's government, in case the banks can't repay the bailout loans. The first announcement was that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had caved into pressure from Spain and Italy, and had agreed that Spain would NOT have to guarantee the loans. Then came reports that the European Commission had lied, and that Spain WOULD have to guarantee the loans. Now Merkel is saying that she did NOT cave in to the demands of Spain and Italy, and that it hadn't yet been decided whether the bank loans would have to be guaranteed by Spain. Spiegel

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 17-Jul-12 World View -- Barclay's COO admits having rigged Libor, thought it was OK thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (17-Jul-2012) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 17-Jul-2012 17-Jul-12 World View -- Barclay's COO admits having rigged Libor, thought it was OK

Barclay's COO admits having rigged Libor, thought it was OK

Russia accuses the West of 'blackmail' on Syria

Germany's Angela Merkel denies caving in on Spain's bank bailout

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 17-Jul-2012
17-Jul-12 World View -- Barclay's COO admits having rigged Libor, thought it was OK