The end of Libor — interest rate benchmark and byword for corruption — is nigh
London — Libor, the nearly 50-year-old global borrowing benchmark that became a byword for corruption, is headed for the trash heap of history. The UK Financial Conduct Authority will phase out the key interest-rate indicator by the end of 2021 after it became clear there was not enough meaningful data to sustain the benchmark that underpins more than $350-trillion in securities, Andrew Bailey, the head of the regulator, said in a speech on Thursday at Bloomberg’s London office. The end of the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, is welcome on many levels for regulators. It was tied to some of the banking industry’s biggest scandals, leading to about $9bn in fines and the conviction of several bankers for manipulating the rate. Relying on the opinions of industry insiders to set the daily estimates based on interbank lending — some in markets where there were fewer than 20 transactions a year — was unacceptable, Bailey said. "Libor is trying to do too many things: it’s trying to...
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