Manchester University Press - Holding bankers to account

This book provides a compelling account of the rigging of benchmarks during and after the financial crisis of 2007-08. Written in clear language accessible to the non-specialist, it provides the historical context necessary for understanding the benchmarks - LIBOR, FOREX and the Gold and Silver Fixes - and shows how and why they have to be reformed in the face of rapid technological changes in markets. Though banks have been fined and a few traders have been jailed, justice will not be done until senior bankers are made responsible for their actions. Provocative and rigorously argued, this book makes concrete recommendations for improving the security of the financial services industry and holding bankers to account.

Reviews

'There is much to recommend the book - especially for the student of City of London history. . Particularly engaging is the way McDonald traces the evolution of regulation - from the roots of the Big Bang to the modern day. . She argues compellingly that the Big Bang capped off an existing market shift and was, in any case, not the rabid deregulation of simplistic portrayal. . Anyone with a keen interest in regulation will learn a lot.'
Financial Times

'A forensic inquiry into the workings of the financial markets. Macdonald's deeply researched work on misbehaviour on the part of banks and other institutions in the LIBOR and FOREX markets deserves to be read by everyone concerned with well-behaved markets. She throws new light on a subject we thought we knew well.'
Lord Meghnad Desai, Emeritus Professor, London School of Economics

'Finally, an authoritative and balanced account of the LIBOR, foreign exchange and precious metals price fixing scandals written by a scholar deeply familiar with financial market transactions and their history. That combination allows Oonagh McDonald to pinpoint the weaknesses in internal governance and external regulation that corrupted these markets, and offer a compelling roadmap for reform.'
Charles W. Calomiris, Henry Kaufman Professor of Financial Institutions, Columbia Business School

'Dr. Oonagh McDonald has written a detailed and insightful account of the manipulation of financial market benchmarks and prices (LIBOR, foreign exchange, gold and silver), and subsequent reforms to benchmarks and their regulation, which can only have been written by an expert. Oonagh concludes that the UK's Senior Managers' and Certification Regime, designed to hold senior bankers to account, offers big banks the opportunity, through demonstrating responsible management, to re-build their reputations and restore public trust in them.'
Professor Andy Mullineux, Birmingham Business School

Part I: LIBOR, A CHEQUERED HISTORY, 1968-2017
1 A decade of deregulation?
2 The evolution of LIBOR
3 Manipulation abounds
4 Yet more banks are involved
5 Who knew what when?
Part II: A DECADE OR MORE OF CHANGE IN THE FOREX MARKET
6 A rapidly changing Forex market
7 Manipulating Forex
Part III: WAS THE PRECIOUS METAL MARKET RIGGED?
8 Gold and silver fixing
Part IV: REGULATORY REFORM
9 Reforming benchmarks
10 Holding senior bankers to account
Appendix: Fines imposed on banks by regulatory authorities
Index

Author

Dr Oonagh McDonald, CBE is an international financial regulatory expert. Her books include Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Turning the American Dream into a Nightmare (2012) and Lehman Brothers: A Crisis of Value (2015).