Timothy Geithner Libor Scandal: Treasury Secretary Once Urged British Regulators To Reform How Global Benchmark Is Calculated

The Washington Post:

While president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Timothy F. Geithner pressed British regulators to reform the way a critical global benchmark called the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, is calculated, according to a June 1, 2008, e-mail obtained by The Washington Post.

Read the whole story at The Washington Post

Comments

[zlohcuc]

10:50 AM on 07/13/2012

Tim either has the backbone the consistency of cooked linguine, is very bad at persuasion or liked things just the way they were...most likely the latter.

[Crazyknightz]

10:42 AM on 07/13/2012

he knew about this rigging and helped them banks get bail outs ? this scam only gets bigger this is Criminal !

[toinfinityandbeyond]

10:38 AM on 07/13/2012

Geithner Reportedly Warned Regulators About Libor In 2008. Well Mr. Secretary, talking about it and doing something about it are two entirely different things don't you think?

[AndList]

10:18 AM on 07/13/2012

Geithner is a treasonous criminal and should spend years in prison. He brings new meaning to the phrase "turn the other cheek" AKA: Do Nothing. Zero ethics and is a traitor in my book. America is more than bankers, Timmy.

[lastmanstanding99]

09:59 AM on 07/13/2012

But again, FED did NO THING !!!! End Them Now. Ron Paul.: )

[terramartom]

09:36 AM on 07/13/2012

Geithner, Summers, Bernanke, Paulson, they are all crooks working for Wall St. extracting $$ Trillions from our economy.
Shut down the Federal Reserve cancer!

[Truwriter]

09:36 AM on 07/13/2012

gotta love timmy, he came to the Obama administration from Goldman Sachs but there has never been a bigger One Percenter in US Government. And there is he is in the Obama administration. And when Obama appointed him to oversee the handout of billions to the richest people in America (Obama calls it the stimulus program but it only stimulated the rich), it was found that Timmy had been a felony level tax scofflaw who had to finally pay his taxes so that he could be IN CHARGE of the IRS. But pray tell, do lets worry about Romney's money.

[shankapotomus]

09:25 AM on 07/13/2012

Its a shame he would warn about wallstreet when he was the NY Fed.

[pachdc]

08:29 AM on 07/13/2012

The 5 year window to prosecute these guys is running out.

I am willing to increase the budget of the following agencies to prosecute these guys and confiscate their bank accounts, homes and cayman island acccounts.

SEC, CFTC, FTC, CFPB, FDIC

[dumbfish]

09:13 AM on 07/13/2012

It basically already has. Most all the shinola was applied and polished, one year prior to the 2008 elections. There will be no repercussions for the vultures and immolation creators of middle class prosperity. The worlds biggest bank robbery was successful !!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was done in broad daylight, It was done by the Bankers, and Wall st, Congress supplied the getaway Vehicle. The car they appropriated for the getaway is a 1998 Glass Stegal Repeal. It was the only one of its kind, manufactured by amazing Bi-Partisanship of all THREE branches of government.
See the movie (not) coming to a theater near you....... "GREEDFELLAS"

[toinfinityandbeyond]

10:40 AM on 07/13/2012

Don't worry about a time line. Obama will simply give them all a Presedential pardon.

[unionave]

08:28 AM on 07/13/2012

The Silverado S&L fiasco occurred when there was a Bush in the White House . It devastated the American financial industry . While the next Bush was in the White House the whole world began experiencing an on going financial fiasco . Whole nations made a sudden dive in to economic poverty . Banks made their most unscrupulous unethical activities in almost a century .

[zlohcuc]

10:54 AM on 07/13/2012

and, as you have seen in recent headlines...NO END IN SIGHT!

[givesflack]

08:19 AM on 07/13/2012

Im sure this scandal was suppressed by banks to keep the connection to the 2008 financial crisis seeming more like the "Inside Job" than it already was. It would have brought down all the TBTF immediately. The fact that Geithner brought Libor up shows some courage on his part but I still don't another WS banker in the government unless its orange jump suits doing road work.

[dumbfish]

08:19 AM on 07/13/2012

The New York Fed played a marginal role in driving the inquiry, according to a source familiar with the U.S. and British investigation.

Marginal....?..... They were a little bit concerned........ We saw it, we suggested we saw it, THEN we closed our eyes.
I think this was the game plan at Penn St. I think this is often the game game plan of people that benefit from illegal or immoral activities. Everybody does it, we didn't start it, and by ignoring it, beneficial "things " happen".
Good luck America. When too big to fail exists, When too big to prosecute exists, When the people in charge are not held accountable,.... "STUFF HAPPENS" ....
The trust of The American people is held accountable in Congress. We put (vote) the lawmakers in. They are accountable to create, change, and Enforce LAW. In our Democracy Congress is by law "TOO BIG TO FAIL THE PEOPLE"
Congress as a whole has failed us, Congress as a whole has supported too big to fail banks. Congress plays a marginal role in regulating Finance and commerce, they benefit by looking the other way.

[mrsmic]

09:08 AM on 07/13/2012

Just like Joe Paterno...he knew about it for years, but said nothing out loud.

[pachdc]

08:18 AM on 07/13/2012

I can hear the drumbeat now. He did not do enough he should have forced Britain to clean up this mess.

Response from Brits:
People who live in glass houses should not throw stones

Touche
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=touche

[huff-fan]

08:17 AM on 07/13/2012

Huffington got it wrong, again.

[Garbearsf]

08:05 AM on 07/13/2012

So he complained about it. What did he do about it at the Fed and as Secretary of the Treasury ? Is the answer nothing? He needs to go. We don't need a Wall Street buddy at the Treasury.

[NotNixon]

08:27 AM on 07/13/2012

Hmm. Given that LIBOR is a foreign rate set by foreign banks on lending in US dollars that are in foreign hands and not insured by the FDIC, I'm not sure what precisely they could do.

Things that foreigners do in foreign lands are not exactly in American jurisdiction. There's a lot to be upset at Tim Geithner about (how *dare* he talk that way to Christina Romer), but this is in the FSA and Bank of England's court.

[Garbearsf]

10:01 AM on 07/13/2012

I don't think your comment is correct. If the illegal activity was not within the US jurisdiction why did Barclays agree to a $453 million settlement with UK and U.S. regulators last month? Sending off an email isn't enough, unless you want to cover your rear end without doing anything meaningful.