UK: Banking consolidation stalled by Libor lawsuits

The UK banks have been looking to consolidate, but it now turns out that the series of class action suits concerning the Libor rate rigging scandal is holding the consolidation back.

A consultation paper released this week mentioned that the UK’s largest banks are moving to recommend a new umbrella body be created to cover the British Bankers’ Association, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, UK Cards Association and the Payments Council. The new body would be a move to recover and repair the image of the Britain’s banking industry from the crisis that occurred six years ago.

The investigation ultimately found that Barclays Bank and member banks had colluded to manipulate the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) for years. Libor is the foundation to approximately $350 trillion in derivatives. The investigations started in late 2008 and concluded in 2012.

The committee established to attempt to initiate mergers includes Les Matheson, head of personal and business banking at Royal Bank of Scotland, Alison Brittain, group director of retail banking at Lloyds Banking Group and is led by Antonio Simoes, chief executive of HSBC in the UK.

Full Content: Sky news

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