European Commission to take action over Libor fixing
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The European Commission has made a number of proposals to tackle rate-fixing following the Libor scandal.
Amendments have been made to proposals for regulation and directive on insider dealing and market manipulation, which would prohibit manipulation of Libor and Euribor, making it a criminal offence.
EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding says: “Public confidence has taken a nosedive with the latest scandals about serious manipulations of lending rates by banks.
“EU action is needed to put an end to criminal activity in the banking sector and criminal law can serve as a strong deterrent.
“This is why we are today proposing EU-wide rules to tackle this type of market abuse and close any regulatory loopholes. A swift agreement on these proposals will help restore much needed confidence of the public and investors in this crucial sector of the economy.”
Internal Market and Services Commissioner Michel Barnier adds: “The international investigations underway into the manipulation of Libor have revealed yet another example of scandalous behaviour by the banks.
“I wanted to make sure that our legislative proposals on market abuse fully prohibit such outrages. That is why I have discussed this with the European Parliament and acted quickly to amend our proposals, to ensure that manipulation of benchmarks is clearly illegal and is subject to criminal sanctions in all countries.”
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