Page 37 - Bank Case Studies

Following the Libor scandal, Marcus Agius,

chairman of Barclays, resigned from Barclays. One
day later, Bob Diamond, Barclays’ chief executive

officer, also resigned. Diamond was subsequently

questioned by the U.K. Parliament regarding the
manipulation of Libor rates. He said he was

unaware of the manipulation until that month.

Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the Commons Treasury committee

said,

"This is appalling. It just beggars belief that this sort of
attitude should have been so widespread,".

Diamond, and three other senior executives

indicated that they would reject their
bonuses that year. Diamond’s bonus the

previous year was £2.7m.

Diamond admitted the bank’s actions

"fell well short of the standards to which Barclays

aspires".

Also, that he was:

"sorry that some people acted in a manner not consistent

with our culture and values."

More importantly, the SFO, which had previously resisted launching

a probe into Libor rigging, was forced to reverse its position and on 6

July 2012 issued a statement announcing it would be undertaking a
criminal investigation (see Appendix 3).