Former Barclays Trader Says Bosses Knew About Libor Fixing

Jay Merchant, one of five ex-Barclays traders accused of rigging benchmark interest rates, has claimed that three of his bosses must have known that traders were making requests to manipulate Libor Libor Libor stands for London Inter-bank offered rate. It is an industry-specific term which most of us would never have heard of until the "Libor scandal" became popularized in 2012. Libor is considered to be one of the most important interest rates in finance, upon which trillions of financial contracts rest. The Libor rate effects over $800,000,000,000,000 in financial deals. Banks simply cannot lend money to one another whenever they like as there is a system in place. Every day a group of leading Libor stands for London Inter-bank offered rate. It is an industry-specific term which most of us would never have heard of until the "Libor scandal" became popularized in 2012. Libor is considered to be one of the most important interest rates in finance, upon which trillions of financial contracts rest. The Libor rate effects over $800,000,000,000,000 in financial deals. Banks simply cannot lend money to one another whenever they like as there is a system in place. Every day a group of leading Read this Term, despite their earlier denials of any knowledge of the rate-setting process.

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Finance Magnates recently reported that Merchant had named a trio of senior Barclays executives who were aware of the manipulation practices on the rates trading desk during a hearing in April 2016.

Merchant said at the London trial that he found it "difficult to believe" that former Global Head of Fixed Income, Eric Bommensath, Chief Operating Officer Mike Bagguley, and another executive, Harry Harrison, didn’t know what the Swaps Swaps Swaps can be defined as a derivate contact composed of two parties that exchange to cash flow between two separate financial instruments.They are generally divided into two categories. This includes contingent claims (options) and forward claims, where forward contracts, swaps, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are exchanged. Commodity price, equity price, interest rate, and foreign exchange rate are common variables used as one of the cash flows in swaps upon initiation. Different Types of Swaps Swaps can be defined as a derivate contact composed of two parties that exchange to cash flow between two separate financial instruments.They are generally divided into two categories. This includes contingent claims (options) and forward claims, where forward contracts, swaps, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are exchanged. Commodity price, equity price, interest rate, and foreign exchange rate are common variables used as one of the cash flows in swaps upon initiation. Different Types of Swaps Read this Term desk traders were doing.

According to Merchant: “Bagguley trained me up and was making requests from my first days on the desk. Harrison definitely knew we were doing it on a regular basis and he approved it."

The three supervisors have denied any knowledge of the requests.

Merchant and four of his colleagues, Stylianos Contogoulas, Jonathan Mathew, Alex Pabon and Ryan Reich, are alleged to have conspired to rig the London interbank offered rate (Libor), a benchmark tied to trillions of dollars in securities and loans.

The case continues.