Friday, July 20, 2012

British central bank: U.S. regulators gave no warning on Libor

Welcome to the morning roundup. Here's a look at today's banking and finance news.

Libor. E-mails from the Bank of England released this morning say American authorities did not warn British officials about the rate-rigging scandal during the financial crisis in 2008, the New York Times reports. Meanwhile, the Times writes, the Libor scandal exposed flaws in the rate-setting process, highlighting a benchmark that is "largely guesswork," even if banks do not manipulate rates.

Rate-rigging settlement. A group of banks being investigated in the Libor scandal is looking to pursue a group settlement with regulators, rather than face being singled out, people familiar with the situation told Reuters. It's unclear which banks are involved in the talks.

Wall Street: Be patient. The five biggest Wall Street banks are asking investors to be patient after reporting the worst start to a year since 2008, Bloomberg reports. The firms blamed their revenue declines on low interest rates and a drop in trading amid concerns over Europe's troubles and slowing growth in the U.S. and China.

Spain bailout. Euro zone finance ministers have given a final go-ahead to Spain to bail out its troubled banks, the Wall Street Journal reports. The finance ministers said Madrid will need to overhaul its financial sector and achieve deficit-reduction targets to continue receiving aid.

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