https://www.scmp.com/rss/263343/feed Libor (London interbank offered rate), is meant to represent how much banks pay to borrow from one another. It is also a benchmark for at least US$550 trillion worth of contracts spanning interest rate derivatives to residential mortgages. A scandal erupted after banks were found to be rigging the system. Barclays was fined US$453 million by global regulators in June 2012 for manipulating Libor, and UBS was hit with a US$1.5 billion bill in December 2012. In February 2013, RBS was fined US$612... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The pressure on Hong Kong stocks may persist for a few more months because of capital flight and currency depreciation against the US dollar, according to Daiwa Capital Markets. Investors could expect a better outlook in the second half of the year. The widening gap between local and global interest rates has resulted in sustained carry trades and weakness in the Hong Kong dollar, Patrick Pan, an analyst based in Hong Kong wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday. “Active funds have also reported a... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3217474/hong-kong-stocks-seen-under-temporary-pressure-amid-currency-depreciation-capital-flight-daiwa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3217474/hong-kong-stocks-seen-under-temporary-pressure-amid-currency-depreciation-capital-flight-daiwa?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Apr 2023 00:00:10 +0000 Kenya’s new administration has signalled that it plans to renegotiate Chinese loans for the debt the country took on to build a major railway and seeks to extend the repayment period to up to 50 years. If so, this would be a reversal from a stance that Kenya’s new president, William Ruto, took during his campaign this summer, saying the country had the capacity to handle its debt situation and that his administration would not go “anywhere near restructuring debt”. Still, on Wednesday during... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3196857/about-face-kenyas-new-government-signals-intent-renegotiate-chinese-loans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3196857/about-face-kenyas-new-government-signals-intent-renegotiate-chinese-loans?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Oct 2022 18:04:37 +0000 Hong Kong banks must step up efforts to migrate legacy contracts tied to the scandal-ridden London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) benchmark as more than HK$1.6 trillion (US$205 billion) of assets, liabilities and derivatives will mature without any fallback. Lenders will have about six weeks to immediately transition about HK$201 billion of loans and derivatives into a new reference rate before the first of two deadlines arrives, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said. That is when two of... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3156294/hong-kong-banks-face-year-end-deadline-migrate-us258-billion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3156294/hong-kong-banks-face-year-end-deadline-migrate-us258-billion?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Nov 2021 22:30:19 +0000 At the end of 2021, there will be a fundamental shift in how the financial industry measures risk, as Libor is phased out. Nearly 10 years after a high-profile London interbank offered rate-fixing scandal, we are nearing the date when financial institutions will be required to use alternative, harder-to-manipulate reference rates and, with only months to go, where is Hong Kong in this inevitable transition? Reference rates, like London’s Libor and Hong Kong’s Hibor, are technical financial... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3155402/hong-kong-must-ensure-smooth-shift-away-libor-benchmark?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3155402/hong-kong-must-ensure-smooth-shift-away-libor-benchmark?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Nov 2021 06:30:19 +0000 Hong Kong banks risk falling behind in the global effort to reform interest rate benchmarks as the scandal-ridden London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) is set to be phased out by the end of next year. Hong Kong’s lack of a plan to phase out the local rate – the Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate (Hibor) – means firms that have entered into hedging arrangements with banks that expire after Libor ceases to exist at the end of 2021 might struggle to restructure their contracts. This could be an... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3105821/hong-kongs-slow-reform-interest-rate-benchmarks-has-put?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3105821/hong-kongs-slow-reform-interest-rate-benchmarks-has-put?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Oct 2020 02:00:06 +0000 The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has sued HSBC, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and 12 other big global banks for manipulating the Libor benchmark interest rate. The manipulation caused "substantial losses" to 38 US banks that were shut down due to insolvency during and after the 2008 financial crisis, according to the FDIC. The regulator said the accused institutions cheated the closed banks in US dollar-based Libor swaps and other agreements through the manipulation of the rate... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1449580/us-regulator-sues-15-banks-including-hsbc-rigging-libor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1449580/us-regulator-sues-15-banks-including-hsbc-rigging-libor?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Mar 2014 21:54:07 +0000 Three former traders at Dutch lender Rabobank were criminally charged on Monday with manipulating the yen Libor benchmark interest rate, the US Department of Justice said. Two former traders of Japanese yen derivatives and a third trader responsible for setting the bank’s yen London interbank offered rate were accused of submitting fraudulent rates to benefit their trading positions, the department said. In October, Rabobank paid US$1 billion to resolve US and European probes into rate-rigging... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1405364/3-rabobank-ex-traders-charged-manipulation-yen-libor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1405364/3-rabobank-ex-traders-charged-manipulation-yen-libor?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jan 2014 07:02:55 +0000 European Union antitrust regulators fined six financial institutions including Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and Citigroup a record total of €1.71 billion (HK$18 billion) yesterday for rigging financial benchmarks. They include the London interbank offered rate (Libor), the Tokyo interbank offered rate and the euro area equivalents such as Euribor. The combined penalty is the biggest yet to be handed down to banks for rigging the benchmarks used to determine the cost of lending, one of... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1373189/eu-fines-five-banks-and-broker-hk18b-fixing-libor-other?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1373189/eu-fines-five-banks-and-broker-hk18b-fixing-libor-other?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Dec 2013 15:00:45 +0000 Fannie Mae sued nine of the world’s largest banks on Thursday, accusing them of colluding to manipulate interest rates and seeking more than US$800 million of damages. In a complaint filed in the US District Court in Manhattan, the government-controlled mortgage company accused the banks of conspiring for many years to suppress the London interbank offered rate (Libor), including during the 2008 financial crisis. Libor underpins hundreds of trillions of dollars of transactions and is used to set... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1345236/nine-top-banks-sued-fannie-mae-over-libor-fixing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1345236/nine-top-banks-sued-fannie-mae-over-libor-fixing?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Nov 2013 06:00:30 +0000 Britain's leading prosecutor, the Serious Fraud Office, is poised to charge more individuals in connection with a global investigation into the Libor interest-rate-rigging scandal. To date, US and British authorities have charged seven men and fined four financial firms about US$2.7 billion in the investigation into the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate (Libor), used as a benchmark for more than US$300 trillion of products from derivatives to home loans. David Green, who has led... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1325982/more-be-charged-over-libor-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1325982/more-be-charged-over-libor-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Oct 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Evidence that interdealer brokers at ICAP conspired to rig Libor for a bank trader raises questions over such firms' role as honest go-betweens among banks and highlights the pressure customers can put on them. Documents released by Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on Wednesday - when it and US authorities fined ICAP, three of whose former brokers face US criminal charges - show staff feared exposing manipulation by a bank trader for fear of losing the client's business. "I am... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1318173/libor-case-raises-integrity-issues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1318173/libor-case-raises-integrity-issues?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Sep 2013 05:13:28 +0000 Britain’s fraud prosecutor has charged two former brokers at interdealer broker RP Martin with rigging Libor benchmark interest rates, broadening the scope of the investigation into the scandal beyond big banks. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said it had charged Terry Farr and James Gilmour with conspiracy to defraud, seven months after arresting them. They are the first staff from a broking firm charged in connection with the Libor investigation in Britain. The two were arrested just before... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1283731/uk-fraud-prosecutor-charges-two-brokers-libor-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1283731/uk-fraud-prosecutor-charges-two-brokers-libor-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Jul 2013 00:26:20 +0000 A global blueprint intended to stamp out manipulation of financial benchmarks, expected to be published late this week, risks failure if individual countries persist in pursuing their own regimes. Regulators are expected to unveil final guidelines for improving transparency and oversight of benchmarks covering everything from interest rates to oil and gold. But the Madrid-based International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has no power to enforce its recommendations and with Hong... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1283089/financial-benchmark-reform-may-stumble-patchy-take?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1283089/financial-benchmark-reform-may-stumble-patchy-take?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Jul 2013 03:47:19 +0000 The company behind the New York Stock Exchange will take over running and restoring confidence in the scandal-hit London interbank offered rate, or Libor, a British committee has ruled. The independent panel, set up by the Treasury, chose NYSE Euronext yesterday to take over Libor from the British Bankers' Association, which had supervised the rate-setting for decades. The changeover is scheduled to be completed by early next year, the panel's chairwoman, Sarah Hogg, said in a statement. The... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1279087/nyse-euronext-take-over-running-libor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1279087/nyse-euronext-take-over-running-libor?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Japan’s banking industry group said on Friday it will tighten monitoring of how its interbank lending rates are set, responding to growing public distrust in benchmark rates around the world in the wake of rate-rigging scandals. The Japanese Bankers Association said it will set up an independent monitoring body to oversee the operation of the Tokyo interbank offered rate (Tibor) and hire outside auditors to improve the transparency on how the benchmark rates are set. The industry group set up a... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1275927/japan-banking-body-tighten-interbank-rate-monitoring?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1275927/japan-banking-body-tighten-interbank-rate-monitoring?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Jul 2013 05:48:41 +0000 British prosecutors say they have extensive evidence against former trader Tom Hayes, the first suspect to come to court following a global investigation into the suspected rigging of interbank lending rates. “To describe (the evidence) as voluminous would be rather an understatement,” Mukul Chawla, leading counsel for Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), told a preliminary court hearing. Judge Anthony Leonard told lawyers representing the SFO to serve their prosecution papers by Sept. 30 at... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1275844/uk-prosecutor-promises-hefty-evidence-first-libor-fixing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1275844/uk-prosecutor-promises-hefty-evidence-first-libor-fixing?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Jul 2013 02:47:59 +0000 Former UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes appeared in a London court yesterday accused of conspiracy to defraud in connection with a global investigation into the Libor interest rate rigging scandal. Prosecutors allege he conspired with employees from banks - including HSBC, UBS, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase and Rabobank - and three interdealer brokers - ICAP, Tullett Prebon and RP Martin - to manipulate rates. Hayes, 33, is the first suspect to face a court in an inquiry stretching... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1265355/ex-ubs-citi-trader-tom-hayes-appears-court-over-libor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1265355/ex-ubs-citi-trader-tom-hayes-appears-court-over-libor?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Royal Bank of Scotland's Japan brokerage unit head is preparing to resign as the company faces penalties for attempts to manipulate benchmark interest rates, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. RBS Securities Japan chief executive officer Ryusuke Otani would leave the company as soon as this week, one of the people said, asking not to be named as the information is private. The Financial Services Agency would announce penalties, including a business improvement order as... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1212617/rbs-japan-head-roll-over-libor-rigging?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1212617/rbs-japan-head-roll-over-libor-rigging?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Barclays, Britain's second-largest lender by assets, paid investment bankers bonuses "incapable of justification" as employees focused on revenue at the expense of clients, according to an internal report. In the report, commissioned by the bank after it was fined £290 million (HK$3.4 billion) in June for manipulating Libor, Rothschild vice-chairman Anthony Salz criticised Barclays for failings in its culture. In parts of the firm, there was "a sense that senior management did not want to hear... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1206543/barclays-bankers-focused-revenue-expense-clients-salzs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1206543/barclays-bankers-focused-revenue-expense-clients-salzs?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Barclays will cut at least 3,700 jobs this year and slash costs, the bank announced yesterday, as it also revealed that it had plunged into an annual net loss amid the Libor rate-rigging crisis. The British bank said it would "reduce headcount by at least 3,700 across the group, including 1,800 in the Corporate & Investment Bank and 1,900 in Europe Retail and Business Banking". Barclays employs 140,000 staff. The bank reported a loss after tax of £1.04 billion (HK$10.8 billion), compared with a... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1148712/barclays-axe-3700-jobs-strategic-overhaul?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1148712/barclays-axe-3700-jobs-strategic-overhaul?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Feb 2013 09:16:39 +0000 The Hong Kong Monetary Authority's deputy chief executive Arthur Yuen Kwok-hang said new measures, to be rolled out in the next six months, would improve the setting of the Hong Kong interbank offered rate (Hibor) and would bring the city's rules in line with reforms elsewhere. SCMP, Feb 7 We are already very much in line. In characteristic copycat fashion the HKMA started an investigation of the Swiss bank UBS a day after it paid up for alleged Libor (London interbank offered rate)... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/1148216/hibor-debate-remember-you-have-pay-good-data?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/1148216/hibor-debate-remember-you-have-pay-good-data?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:00:00 +0000 A multistate probe of alleged manipulation of interest rates threatens to leave banks liable for billions of dollars in estimated state and local losses from the scandal, even as they settle with national regulators. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is helping lead a probe into claims that banks rigged global benchmarks for borrowing, adding to investigations by other authorities, including the US Justice Department. Royal Bank of Scotland agreed on Wednesday to pay about US$612... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1145548/cost-rigging?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1145548/cost-rigging?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Royal Bank of Scotland is to pay US$612 million in fines to regulators in the United States and Britain for rigging interbank lending rates, the kind of market manipulation the Hong Kong Monetary Authority sought to stave off yesterday by unveiling new measures in setting rates in the city. More than a dozen traders at RBS offices in London, Singapore and Tokyo manipulated the London interbank offered rate, which is used to price trillions of dollars worth of loans, from at least 2006 until... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1144342/uks-rbs-braced-libor-rate-rigging-punishment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1144342/uks-rbs-braced-libor-rate-rigging-punishment?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Feb 2013 01:45:21 +0000 The more we learn about the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate (Libor), the more expensive the scandal becomes for the financial institutions involved. If banks want to control the damage, they would do well to come clean sooner rather than later about the full extent and effect of their misbehaviour. Recent revelations about misdeeds at Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, and UBS - only three of more than a dozen banks under investigation - are enough to keep lawyers and courts... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1141462/banks-consider-global-libor-deal-costs-scandal-rise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1141462/banks-consider-global-libor-deal-costs-scandal-rise?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain's biggest publicly owned lender, may reduce the bonus pool at its investment bank by more than a third as it prepares to pay fines to US and British regulators for Libor manipulation, a person with knowledge of the plan said. RBS was poised to set aside about £250 million (HK$3.05 billion) for bonuses at the division, compared with £390 million for 2011, said the person, who asked not to be identified because a final decision is yet to be taken. The bank planned... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1138939/royal-bank-scotland-plans-bonus-cut-help-cover-libor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1138939/royal-bank-scotland-plans-bonus-cut-help-cover-libor?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Royal Bank of Scotland may pay up to £500 million (HK$6.24 billion) in fines next week to settle allegations that traders tried to rig interest rates, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Investment banking chief John Hourican and Peter Nielsen, the head of markets, might also be asked to leave because they had responsibility for the parts of the company where the alleged wrongdoing occurred, even though they might not have had direct knowledge of the behaviour, said the two... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1128992/rbs-faces-ps500m-fine-over-libor-charges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1128992/rbs-faces-ps500m-fine-over-libor-charges?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 An investigation into the setting of Hong Kong's interbank interest rates is unlikely to reveal any misconduct that had a major social impact because rates have been low for years, says the Hong Kong Association of Banks. But the industry body admitted there might have been some "wilful intention" to manipulate the rates, which could dent banks' integrity and reputation. "The recent Hibor [Hong Kong interbank offered rate] investigation is a case-specific issue, not a systemic problem," said... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1117804/no-system-rot-surface-hibor-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1117804/no-system-rot-surface-hibor-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Hong Kong's de facto central bank said it has begun investigating UBS for possible misconduct involving the setting of the city's interbank interest rate, raising fresh concerns that the Swiss bank faces more trouble. The statement comes just a day after UBS agreed to pay US$1.5 billion in fines for its role in a scandal involving the London interbank offered rate (Libor). The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said yesterday it was investigating the Hong Kong interbank offered rate (Hibor) submitted... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1109439/monetary-authority-investigates-ubs-over-possible-hibor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1109439/monetary-authority-investigates-ubs-over-possible-hibor?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Hong Kong’s de facto central bank said on Thursday that it would probe Swiss banking giant UBS over claims of possible rigging of Hong Kong’s interbank offered rate (Hibor). “The HKMA has commenced an investigation with a view to ascertaining any misconduct committed by the bank in relation to HIBOR submissions,” the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said in a statement, adding it had received information of possible misconduct. The HKMA said it will work with overseas regulatory authorities to... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1108966/hkma-probes-ubs-over-rate-rigging-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1108966/hkma-probes-ubs-over-rate-rigging-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Dec 2012 04:39:45 +0000 Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, UBS and Depfa Bank have been convicted by a judge in Milan for their role in overseeing fraud by their bankers in the sale of derivatives to the city. Judge Oscar Magi yesterday ordered that about €90 million (HK$926 million) of assets be seized from the banks and that the firms pay sanctions of €1 million each. He also convicted nine bankers of fraud. The trial, the first of its kind in Italy, was seen as a litmus test for hundreds of local governments facing big... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1108587/major-banks-convicted-milan-fraud-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1108587/major-banks-convicted-milan-fraud-case?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, must pay about 1.4 billion Swiss francs (HK$11.84 billion) to US, British and Swiss regulators for trying to rig global interest rates, triple the penalties levied against Barclays. Fines from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the United States Department of Justice total US$1.2 billion, UBS said yesterday. It will pay £160 million (HK$2.01 billion) to the British Financial Services Authority (FSA), the largest fine imposed by that regulator, and... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1108493/ubs-fined-hk12b-rigging-global-interest-rates?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1108493/ubs-fined-hk12b-rigging-global-interest-rates?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 UBS is set to pay as much as US$1.6 billion to settle claims of Libor manipulation by the US Department of Justice, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the British Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, said a person familiar with the probes. The announcement could come by today, said the source. The US$1.6 billion figure would be more than three times the £290 million (HK$3.63 billion) that Barclays agreed to pay last June to settle... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1107274/ubs-facing-us16b-penalty-settle-libor-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1107274/ubs-facing-us16b-penalty-settle-libor-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Every morning, from his desk by the bathroom at the far end of Royal Bank of Scotland Group's trading floor overlooking London's Liverpool Street station, Paul White punched a series of numbers into his computer. White, who joined RBS in 1984, was one of the employees responsible for the firm's submissions to the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, the global benchmark for more than US$300 trillion of contracts, from mortgages and student loans to interest-rate swaps. Behind him sat Neil... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1105673/organised-bank-crimes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1105673/organised-bank-crimes?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and City of London Police made the first three arrests in global probes into tampering with benchmark interest rates, notably the London interbank offered rate (Libor). The three men arrested, aged 33 to 47, were British nationals living in the country, the SFO said. The agency - an independent British government department - and police also searched three homes in Surrey and Essex. Global authorities are investigating claims that more than a dozen banks... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1103307/britains-serious-fraud-office-arrests-three-libor-tampering?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1103307/britains-serious-fraud-office-arrests-three-libor-tampering?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 HK$8.9m in bonus shares for HKEx chief Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has awarded chief executive Charles Li Xiaojia shares worth HK$8.92 million as a long-term incentive. The HKEx board also approved HK$103.48 million for the purchase of shares to be awarded to other selected employees. Enoch Yiu   Greece to spend €10b on bond buy-back Greece said it would spend €10 billion (HK$101 billion) to buy back bonds at a price range that topped market expectations. A successful buyback is central to... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1096890/business-digest-december-4-2012?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1096890/business-digest-december-4-2012?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Hong Kong's banking association has proposed increasing market transparency and reducing the number of maturities in the city's interbank reference rates market following a price-rigging scandal in London. The British scandal saw banks manipulate interbank rates to profit from trades. The Hong Kong Association of Banks yesterday said it would hire an independent consulting firm to survey and collect feedback from the banking industry in the coming weeks. This follows a report from the Treasury... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1091692/lenders-vow-be-transparent-hibor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1091692/lenders-vow-be-transparent-hibor?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 UBS is under investigation in Singapore along with other banks for possible manipulation of Libor and other benchmark rates, the Swiss bank said yesterday. In notes to its third quarter earnings report, UBS said that the Monetary Authority of Singapore, as well as authorities in Britain, United States and Switzerland, are conducting investigations into whether it and other banks tried to manipulate rates. More than a dozen banks are under investigation by regulators in the US, Europe and Asia.... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1073573/singapore-targets-ubs-over-libor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1073573/singapore-targets-ubs-over-libor?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Heineken poised to take Asia Pacific Breweries Fraser & Neave shareholders will vote on whether to approve the sale of a 40 per cent stake in Asia Pacific Breweries to Dutch-based brewer Heineken. Heineken raised its offer last month to US$6.3 billion. Heineken cleared the biggest hurdle in its fight for APB control when billionaire stakeholder Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi's Thai Beverage pledged its support this month.   Church of England to name new archbishop The Church of England's crown... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1048942/talking-points?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1048942/talking-points?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The British Bankers' Association (BBA) has signalled willingness to give up oversight of the London interbank offered rate following claims that traders manipulated the benchmark rate. Financial Services Authority managing director Martin Wheatley is reviewing whether to bring oversight of the benchmark under the control of regulators after Barclays, Britain's second-biggest lender, paid a record £290 million (HK$3.64 billion) fine in June for manipulating Libor. Regulators worldwide are... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1048097/bankers-signal-end-setting-libor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1048097/bankers-signal-end-setting-libor?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 As lawsuits mount from aggrieved parties in the Libor scandal, one party is keeping tight-lipped: Chinese investment institutions that are wary of revealing too much about their dealings. A flurry of suits have been filed from parties ranging from individual investors to fund managers to banks, all claiming to have been hurt financially by a group of banks that manipulated the London interbank offered rate (Libor). The setting of the key interest rate - on which everything from derivative... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1038565/chinese-investment-institutions-remain-silent-over-libor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1038565/chinese-investment-institutions-remain-silent-over-libor?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 British bank Barclays on Thursday named retail and business banking head Antony Jenkins as its new chief executive, replacing Bob Diamond who resigned last month over the interbank rate-rigging scandal. “Barclays announce that Antony Jenkins has been appointed as a director and as group chief executive of Barclays with immediate effect,” the group said in an official statement. The Briton’s appointment meanwhile comes one day after Barclays revealed that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1026372/barclays-names-new-ceo-replace-bob-diamond-who-quit-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1026372/barclays-names-new-ceo-replace-bob-diamond-who-quit-over?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Aug 2012 08:16:28 +0000 Fund managers and listed companies have expressed support for a planned Hong Kong review of the local interbank rate setting to ascertain whether any manipulation is occurring. The Hong Kong Association of Banks has recently mandated the Treasury Markets Association to implement a full review of the city's version of the interbank rate setting, known as the Hong Kong interbank offered rate (Hibor). This came after Britain's Financial Services Authority ordered a review last week to reform the... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1019533/hk-companies-support-review-interbank-borrowing-mechanism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1019533/hk-companies-support-review-interbank-borrowing-mechanism?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Manipulation by Barclays defies belief The manipulation of the London interbank offered rate (Libor) by Barclays brings disrepute to the core of the British financial community. It beggars belief that Bob Diamond, the bank's former chief executive who bestrode the financial crisis citing his bank's ability to navigate the tempest, knew nothing of his senior staff allowing practices of corruption to exist. His comment that traders' actions were 'purely for their own benefit' is floored by the... https://www.scmp.com/article/1006088/letters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1006088/letters?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Jul 2012 16:00:00 +0000