It is almost quaint that only five banks are mentioned in this Reuters story about the Libor rate-rigging scandal. Barclays leads the way being the first bank to be hit with nearly a half billion dollar fine. Soon, it seems, they will have company.
The 360º survey of damage from rigging Libor rates has begun to percolate. Layers of political and social damage can be assessed from the permissive attitude between government regulators toward mega-banks. One can argue, as British Business Secretary Vince Cable has done, that banks have capitalized on crippling economic growth.
Other financial institutions have been swept into the maelstrom: Deutsche Bank, UBS, RBS and the Bank of England. It is virtually guaranteed that damage will come in many forms now that investigators and litigants have obtained private communications between people at each bank who had a hand in falsifying Libor rates.
