When, in the run up to late 2007, derivatives traders at Barclays Capital were sending e-mails to colleagues on the money market desk asking them to manipulate their London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) submissions – and celebrating with bottles of Bollinger when their requests were met – they had little idea just how explosive the repercussions would eventually be.
Soon after Barclays revealed it had been hit with a $450m fine from UK and US regulators in late June for fixing Libor, its three top bankers – chairman Marcus Agius, chief executive Bob Diamond and chief operating officer Jerry del Missier – were forced to resign (although Mr Agius has since resumed his role to provide stability and find a new CEO).
