Bl***y Banks Again

BOB DIAMOND IS TO FACE QUESTIONING BY A COMMONS SELECT COMMITTEE

Good evening.I've seen this on a few sites.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/35421

BANKERS TO APPEAR ON WEDNESDAY BEFORE COMMITTEE
BANKERS ARE TRYING TO GET AROUND REGULATIONS,SHOULD THEY BE DOING THAT?

Badboy

Looks like it's going to be very interesting as Bob Diamond has succumbed and resigned and on Sky News there is talk that he is expected to take others with him. Though if he did have knowledge and didn't balk - how will this exonerate him?

THERE IS A LARGE CLASS ACTION IN USA,CITY OF BALTIMORE TO SUE FOR MILLIONS,SOME ARE SUEING FOR BILLIONS,COULD SOME BANKS HAVE NOTHING IF ALL THIS SUEING AHEAD.

I BEGINNING TO WONDER IF THE WHOLE BANKING SYSTEM IS BUILT ON S***.(EXCUSE MY LANGUAGE.

NATWEST AND RBS HAVE DEBITED SOME CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS TWICE ON THEIR LOAN REPAYMENTS.
THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN PEOPLE THINKING OF SWITCHING THEIR ACCOUNTS IN VIEW OF ALL THESE BANKING PROBLEMS(NATIONWIDE HAS SEEN AN 85% INCREASE IN ENQUIIES ABOUT SWITCHING TO THEM FROM OTHER BANKS)
WEBSITES OFFERING A SWITCH YOUR BANK ACCOUNT HAVE SEEN AN INCREASE IN VISITORS TO THEIR WEBSITES.

Badboy wrote:THERE IS A LARGE CLASS ACTION IN USA,CITY OF BALTIMORE TO SUE FOR MILLIONS,SOME ARE SUEING FOR BILLIONS,COULD SOME BANKS HAVE NOTHING IF ALL THIS SUEING AHEAD.

I BEGINNING TO WONDER IF THE WHOLE BANKING SYSTEM IS BUILT ON S***.(EXCUSE MY LANGUAGE.

Badboy

I watched a bit of the Treasury Committee and he was asked if he was being investigated by US Department of Justice and other organisations and he said not that he knew of. But his face told a different story - it was like thunder!

ETA you are probably correct about what the Banking system is built on.

ULSTER BANK STILL HAVING TECHNICAL PROBLEMS,SOME CUSTOMERS ARE MISSING THOUSANDS OF POUNDS IN THEIR ACCOUNTS.
NATWEST AND CO-OP BANK HAVE HAD INCREASED ENQUIRIES ABOUT SWITCHING ACCOUNTS TO THEM.

My bank phoned me the other day to offer me advice.

Lioned wrote:My bank phoned me the other day to offer me advice.

What did they say....take your money out and hide it under your mattress

Something about the 3.30 at Kempton

I think they told you to donate it to a gooner!

No i am just going to spend it all on fast cars and holidays then let the state keep me !

I AM PLANNING ON SPENDING A LOT ON NEW TRAVEL BOOKS

where would you like to travel to Badboy

I am going to go on a Cruise.

Oh where to?

cherry1 wrote:where would you like to travel to Badboy

THE NORWEGAN FJORDS,NZ FJORDS,LOCH LOMOND,TUSCANY,CAPPODOCIA,GUILIN,LAPLAND,SKYE,GLASTONBURY,AVEBURY.PENWITH,EXMOOR,PEMBROKESHIRE,PYREENES,BASQUE COUNTRY,CORSICA,SWITZERLAND,ICELAND,SANTORINI,BALEARICS,YORKSHIRE DALES/MOORS,NORTHUMBRIA,DORDOGNE,BRITTANY ETC
WOULD NEED A PASSPORT FOR SOME PLACES TO TRAVEL TO

That will keep you busy, I think Switzerland and Norway would be especially
nice places to go to with beautiful scenery. Yorkshire Dales are beautiful.

Well bob Diamond has been forced to resign over the Libor scandal and now we have the first of probably many Lawsuits against the Banks. No bailouts from the covernment this time thought the Public would be outraged.

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Barclays Plc (BARC) was sued by an investor who claimed her futures-trading business was harmed by the bank’s admitted manipulation of the Euro Interbank Offered Rate.

A copy of the complaint, which also names JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Citigroup Inc. (C) among other defendants, was provided by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, the law firm representing the investor. The filing couldn’t be independently confirmed yesterday on the website of the federal court in Manhattan.





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As part of settlements with U.S. and U.K. regulators, Barclays has admitted rigging the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, as well as the Euribor, its equivalent in euros, as early as 2005. In testimony to the U.K. Parliament this week, Robert Diamond, who resigned as the bank’s chief executive officer, apologized and said 14 Barclays traders were involved.

“Based on what we’ve seen so far, the rate-fixing scheme was apparently an open secret within Barclays, leaving a broad trail of evidence of the banks’ complicity,” Steve Berman, a lawyer for the investor, said yesterday in a statement.

The investor, Karen Kalaway, was the principal of Riff-Raff Trading Inc. in the Chicago suburb of Inverness, Illinois.

Her lawsuit seeks to represent all U.S.-based investors who bought or sold Euribor-related financial instruments from Jan. 1, 2005, to Dec. 31, 2009.

Representatives of London-based Barclays, JPMorgan and Citigroup, didn’t immediately return calls after regular business hours yesterday seeking comment on the lawsuit.

The case is Kalaway v. Barclays Plc, 12-05280, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan.)

The Serious Fraud Office has announced a decision to investigate Libor rate-fixing by bank staff.

SFO director David Green QC formally accepted the Libor issue for a criminal investigation after Barclays was fined by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) last week.

The investigation could ultimately lead to criminal prosecutions and bankers facing charges in court.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said: "I want the SFO to follow the evidence wherever it goes, to bring prosecutions if they possibly can, but of course that is a matter for the SFO.


The Barclays share price plunged when the investigation was announced

"But I think it's very welcome that they've started this investigation and we're committed to making sure they have all the resources they need to carry this investigation absolutely to the full."

According to Reuters the scandal may have wider implications, after it reported German authorities had launched a rate-fixing probe against Deutsche Bank.

The Barclays share price closed on Friday afternoon at 164.70p, down more than 2.05% on the day.

The SFO's announcement came after it revealed earlier this week that it had been working closely with the FSA during its investigation and would consider the potential for criminal prosecutions.

The government department, which is responsible for investigating and prosecuting serious and complex fraud, said the issues surrounding Libor were "complex" and that assessing the evidence would take time.

Barclays paid £290m in fines to settle the case with US and UK regulators over an admission of manipulating the key interbank lending rate, which affects mortgages and loans.


Chairman Marcus Agius resigned but it failed to stem the scandal

The claims ultimately led to the resignation of boss Bob Diamond and have become the focal point of a fierce political debate over ethics in the banking sector.

Fixing of Libor and the European-based Euribor rates precedes the global financial crisis of 2008.

Barclays launched an internal investigation into the scam and said it cost nearly £100m to review 22 million documents, interview 75 people, and analyse one million audio recordings to uncover the wrongdoing.

However, when Mr Diamond appeared before the Treasury Select Committee last Wednesday, the banker said he only found out about the scandal within the last month.

He said he admitted to feeling "physically ill" when he discovered some 14 traders had fiddled the key rate but denied he was "personally culpable" for their actions.

He blamed a "series of unfortunate events" for his shock departure as he fended off calls to give up his multimillion-pound bonuses.

In his evidence, Mr Diamond also claimed Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker told him "senior figures" within Whitehall had questioned Barclays' Libor submission rates in 2008.

American-born Mr Diamond said Mr Tucker was trying to warn him that "there are ministers in Whitehall who are hearing that Barclays is always high, that could lead to the impression that you are not funding yourself".

Within days the Libor premium of Barclays, in comparison to the submission offers of competitor banks, plummeted.

Meanwhile, Barclays was dealt another blow on Thursday as agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's downgraded their outlook for the bank's credit rating in the wake of Mr Diamond's departure.

The agencies said the departure of Mr Diamond, as well as Mr Agius and chief operating officer Jerry del Missier, could lead to the break-up of its powerhouse investment arm.
Article:
Exec To Talk To MPs About Barclays Bank Of England To Talk Over Barclays' Claim
Updated: 5:07pm UK, Wednesday 04 July 2012

Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker has requested his own hearing with the Treasury Select Committee to apparently counter Barclays' account of his alleged role in the rate-fixing row.

Mr Tucker asked to attend a hearing with the committee, chaired by Andrew Tyrie MP, as soon as possible.

The move follows the publication of settlement agreements by Barclays with US and UK regulators over the rigging of Libor and Euribor, after which Barclays was fined £290m.

:: Read how the share price of Barclays was affected as Mr Diamond gave evidence on July 4

The hearing request comes after claims he told the then head of Barclays Capital, Bob Diamond, that "senior Whitehall figures" had questioned the bank's position on the inter-bank rates.

Mr Tucker is apparently eager to challenge the recollection of Mr Diamond and Barclays, in particular regarding the telephone conversation with Mr Diamond on October 29, 2008.

During Mr Diamond's evidence to the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) on Wednesday afternoon, he was asked what his interpretation of Mr Tucker's alleged use of the term Whitehall meant.

"In my mind, officials in the Government," Mr Diamond said.

Pushed further on their identity, Mr Diamond described them as "senior people in the Government".

:: Read more about Mr Diamond's evidence to the committee and how he was "physically ill"

The men's evidence comes after Barclays published a swathe of documentation to support its position ahead of an appearance by Mr Diamond, who resigned as CEO on Monday.

The bank, whose name has been increasingly tarnished after being fined over fixing of the Libor rate for US dollars, has sought to explain its actions in a scandal that threatens to engulf other global banks.

"These explanations are in no way intended to excuse any of the events that occurred," Barclays said on its corporate website.

"These events should never have taken place, and Barclays deeply regrets that they did."

Barclays said its own internal investigation cost millions and included reviewing documents held by more than 200 custodians.

:: Read More - The Sky News Blog During The Diamond Grilling

The bank appeared aggrieved that its willingness to help authorities investigate previous behaviour has backfired, in PR terms.

"It is ironic that there has been such an intense focus on Barclays alone, caused by our being first to settle in the midst of an industry-wide, global investigation," the bank said.

But questions remain about elements of the Barclays' investigation and its internal disciplinary procedure to penalise those involved - as many complicit traders have already left the firm.

It said: "Where possible, robust action has or will be taken to hold those responsible to account."

However, it added that "less senior managers" told some 14 traders to drop the submissions but admitted "the origins of these instructions is not clear".

It confirmed the Libor rate submissions were lowered after Mr Tucker telephoned Mr Diamond.

It said a subsequent briefing note send by Mr Diamond to the then chairman John Varley - CCed to colleague Jerry del Missier - was erroneously interpreted by the latter as an instruction to lower rates by the Libor submitters.

Questions remained, however, after Mr Diamond's evidence to the TSC.

Mr Diamond told MPs he spoke to Mr del Missier every day, and yet there was a significant miscommunication about the October 29 file note.

The competency of Mr Diamond to be CEO of a large global bank was further questioned after an admission he only learned of the Libor rate-fixing last month.

That revelation appeared incredulous to some TSC members, especially after his firm revealed on Tuesday night it spent nearly £100m on the internal investigation, listened to one million audio recordings, reviewed more than 22 million documents and interviewed dozens of employees.
David Cameron has been accused of failing to act in the national interest by refusing to hold a judicial inquiry into the rate-fixing scandal.

Labour leader Ed Miliband went on the attack at Prime Minister's Questions, which came shortly before former Barclays boss Bob Diamond appeared before the Treasury Select Committee.

Mr Miliband is pushing for a full, judge-led inquiry but the Government insists a parliamentary review will be quicker and more effective and is refusing to budge.

The Commons is set to vote tomorrow on whether to endorse Labour's call for a Leveson-style inquiry or to establish a committee of peers and MPs to lead the investigation.

At PMQs, the Labour leader put forward the possibility of a two-stage inquiry, with the first focused on rate-fixing due to report by Christmas and the second looking at wider practices in banking.

But Mr Cameron again insisted that a parliamentary probe would suffice, as he called the latest revelations about British banks "appalling".

In turn, Mr Miliband repeatedly refused to indicate whether his party would abide by the results of Thursday's vote and participate in a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr Miliband said: "The banking scandal of the last week has revealed traders cheating, the mis-selling of insurance products to small businesses and comes on top of other scandals in the banking system and the continuing multimillion bonus merry-go-round."

He asked the Prime Minister: "How can you convince people that a parliamentary inquiry is a better way of restoring people's confidence than a full, independent, forensic and open judge-led inquiry?"

Mr Cameron replied: "This banking scandal is appalling. It is outrageous, frankly, that homeowners may have paid higher mortgage rates and small businesses may have paid higher interest rates because of spivvy and probably illegal activity in the City.

"People want to know that crime in our banks, crime in our financial services, will be pursued and punished like crimes on our streets.

"I think as well as people being held accountable, they want rapid action to make sure this cannot happen again.

"In my view, the most important thing about an inquiry is that it is swift and decisive, set up as fast as possible, gets going as fast as possible, reports as fast as possible, transparent and open at every stage.

"That's why I favour a public, parliamentary inquiry rather than a judge-led inquiry. I want us to legislate on this, starting next year."

Mr Miliband argued that his reluctance to set up an full-scale investigation showed he did not understand the scale of public anger.

He claimed the Tories were a party "bankrolled by the banks", adding: "If he fails to order a judicial inquiry, people will come to one conclusion: he simply can't act in the national interest."

Mr Cameron countered: "Labour want to talk about absolutely everything except their own record... We may have found the Higgs Boson particle, Labour have not found a sense of shame."

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Interestingly, RBS is to take legal action to prevent removal of Files , this is the Bank that was saved by Gordon Brown and the U.K. Taxpayer .....why
would they want to refuse to assist the enquiry??????

Bob Diamond has angrily rejected suggestions that he misled MPs over regulators' concerns about activities at Barclays.

The bank's former boss said the claims were "totally unfair and unfounded" - and indicated he was ready to appear before the Commons Treasury Select Committee again to defend his reputation.

The rejection of the claims came in a letter sent following an evidence session with Barclays chairman Marcus Agius.

"Having watched the committee's session today I was dismayed that you and some of your fellow committee members appeared to suggest that I was less than candid with the committee last week," he wrote.

"Any such suggestion would be totally unfair and unfounded."

However, speaking to Sky's Jeff Randall, the committee's chairman Andrew Tyrie stuck to his guns, questioning Mr Diamond's honesty on the day of the grilling.

He said: "We felt he had been economical with the truth and we had difficulty getting to the bottom of some of the questions we asked him.

"I still feel that on a good number of issues we did not get to the bottom of where we should have done."


Diamond will not receive his £20 million bonus but will receive his £2 million annual salary.


More and more people are taking their money from Banks and investing in ethical banks. These pay a lower rate of interest but all profit is used to help
those with special needs, like taking them on holiday , buying equipment etc......let's hope this gathers momentum.

MAYBE BANK CUSTOMER SHOULD VOTE WITH THEIR FEET ANDLOOK AT ALTERNATIVES.

Badboy wrote:MAYBE BANK CUSTOMER SHOULD VOTE WITH THEIR FEET ANDLOOK AT ALTERNATIVES.

Well, I think that is what they are doing, and this televised this morning will make more people aware. I think Building Societies are the safest and maybe more prospective home buyers will think twice where they borrow from.