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FBN’s Ray Hennessey discusses the latest details into the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate.
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Week well as we have been reporting live or scandalous threatening to get even bigger -- -- that the US Justice Department may now be getting involved.
A does not talk about all of that -- this is as director of business news ray -- good morning right what do you look -- But you know if you if you think about it what when Barkley is you know had that close to half a billion dollar fine.
One of the things that everybody says when is the next -- gonna drop but people were thinking more in terms of civil charges and finds that a lot of these big banks would -- like they have to pay.
What what we're hearing now is there's the possibility of criminal charges and that kind of ups the -- -- also ups the ante.
For those find that we -- -- any news if you find out that get there there was out now fraud and criminal activity.
It's much easier to -- get a bigger fine so.
It -- remember when the Barkley is news came out all of our eyes kind of widened when we saw helping -- that -- was.
There's talk that the the further penalties for some of the other banks involved.
Maybe even higher and you're probably gonna see bank vs bank they're probably gonna see some banks.
Kind of turn in and help the investigators.
You know -- -- get through this.
In in return for lower fines or fewer charges -- and if that's the case then you've kind of got this big big cat fight on your hands among all the facts.
Do you think that that document dump that we got from the New York -- last week -- into that adds new fuel to the flyer.
For investigators as they look for maybe what went wrong well what's.
What's amazing is eight you know if you stop and think about what market it will Barclays role based on our -- we saw in those those documents.
What what Barkley said was.
They went to the New York -- said hey we're low balling Libor.
And other banks are doing it to do so you know I I think the what that that -- fed documents -- -- is.
This wasn't something that people were hiding this was it was it was wrong doing in plain sight that that regulators.
You know.
Just chose to ignore.
-- be interesting is whether or not.
The ignorance of of that wrongdoing was just pure ignorance or whether it was complicity whether regulators.
Here right now what are -- we're blessing the banks for what they did.
When is the next cycle -- listing the regulators for not acting on you know essentially banks coming clean and saying this is what we're -- That raises the the the prospect that indeed the regulators knew the Libor is being manipulated and they've they just -- Not to do anything about it because they like the fact that it was being manipulated because it it it you know help them.
You know they put less pressure on them to kind of help lower interest rates in that market -- for him do it artificially made in have to step in and get themselves.
You know criminal investigations -- as you know from years of business news are very different.
From civil trials in particular if this does become a criminal investigation and we do you think that we could.
Do you possibly see people going to to jail over this -- it goes -- far.
Well I obviously if if there is a criminal investigation then there's the chances of jail time it's it's cool goes right I mean.
By the lower level traders who have now -- things are I -- to say they'll.
It may be more difficult to build a criminal case on this than a civil case because.
-- you know one of the arguments is going to be bad that Libor was so easily manipulated and have been manipulated for so long.
And it's so many holes -- it that this is common practice and there's a lot of precedent in the past when it comes these securities cases.
If you do you have -- -- if you do you have common practice taking place even if it's wrong even at its actual criminal wrongdoing.
-- you won't get juries are or courts finding guilt there's so.
It'll be agency that that played that plays out there but certainly somebody could go to jail a couple of people should it look there's some it was in the regulators should go to jail over.
Over the way that they just showed kind of willfully ignorant of what was going out.
I -- what if they're gonna be asking Ben Bernanke about that when he talks to congress -- we have we have Ben Bernanke is weak and Geithner this week so and I think in both cases you can hear this come up again and again now it's gonna be interesting -- ray -- alive -- the -- -- director businesses -- Fox Business -- -- -- very.
