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Dublin: 12 °C Sunday 19 May, 2013

UK to hold banking inquiry over lending rates scandal

David Cameron announced the inquiry in parliament this morning over the major scandal involving inter-bank lending rates.

David Cameron in the House of Commons today
David Cameron in the House of Commons today
Image: PA Wire

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER David Cameron has announced that an inquiry is to be held into the banking sector following a major exposé involving interest rate-fixing.

Cameron told the House of Commons today that the manipulation of internal bank interest rates was a “scandal”.

The remit of the parliamentary inquiry will be to examine issues of “transparency, conflicts of interest and the culture and professional standards of the financial services industry including the interaction with the criminal law”.

The chairman of Barclays bank Macus Agius resigned this morning after the bank was fined €360 million for trying to manipulate the Libor inter-bank lending rate.

“As Chairman, I am the ultimate guardian of the bank’s reputation,” Agius said this morning. “Accordingly, the buck stops with me and I must acknowledge responsibility by standing aside”.

Four traders from the Royal Bank of Scotland are believed to have been sacked late last year for their role in fixing inter-bank interest rates, according to reports at the weekend.

Chairman of Barclays bank resigns after rate-fixing scandal >
RBS traders fired months ago over rate-fixing – report >

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